Meant To Be
by Nobel Grace
Summary: When Jesse returns home after years of traveling the world, he is surprised to find a lot has happened since he has been away. A love story about childhood sweethearts, with a few scary twists.
1. The Tree House

Susannah opened her eyes and rubbed away the sleep. It was a beautiful July day and the birds were already awake and singing. She kicked off her pink princess sheets and jumped out of bed. She raced to her window and pulled back the white lacy drapes. She smiled broadly when she saw it and squealed with delight.

She threw on a pair of pink shorts and a white tank top and threw her blonde hair into a pony tail before she headed downstairs for breakfast. Her dad was at work already and her mom wasn't very good at cooking so it would be a toss up between cereal or over done toast.

"Morning Mom." She said as she skipped into the kitchen. Her mother stood at the sink washing up a bowl that 8 month old David had used for his breakfast. She tickled his socked feet as she sat in the chair next to his highchair. He smiled a big toothy grin at her while he rubbed the left over cereal in his short red hair.

"What would you like for breakfast, Susie?" her mom asked turning to look at her. She was still in her yellow cotton pjs and her blonde hair was wild from last nights sleep, but to Susannah she was beautiful.

"Cereal's fine Mom." She answered and her mother smiled at her. She took out a box of Honey Nut Cheerios and a box of Frosted Flakes.

"Which would you prefer?" Her mother asked and Susannah squinted at the boxes pretending that it was a tough decision.

"Cheerios please!"

"Sounds good." She said and poured them into a bowl. She handed Susannah the bowl of cheerios and milk and wiped down David's hands and face. "What a mess mister!" Her mother said with a sigh and David squirmed to get away from the cloth. "So what are you doing today?" Her mother asked her and Susannah shrugged and smiled.

"Well…the tree-" She was cut off by a loud thud in the hallway.

"What in Heaven's name was that?" her mother shouted.

"Sorry Mom." Jake's head appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Brad fell down the stairs."

"Did not! Jake pushed me!" Brad said pushing past Jake. At 12 Jake was the tallest in his class and very thin. His light brown hair flopped in his face and covered his bright blue eyes. He was funny yet serious and he always defended Susannah against Brad.

At 10½ Brad was tall for his age, yet still very chubby. He wined about everything and always teased Susannah. His hair was always cut short and he wore the same blue Roots sweater everyday.

The boys wrestled with each other to get their cereal and then sat at the table. Jake smiled at Susannah and Brad scowled at her.

"So, that's a pretty sweet set up out back." Jake said to her. Susannah's face it up and she stammered trying to get all her thoughts out at once.

"We…today…to try it…"

"Think before you speak stupid." Brad snapped and Jake punched him in the arm. As their mother scolded them for fighting the door bell rang and Susannah jumped up to get it.

"Oh la la…Looks like your _BOYFRIEND'S_ here." Brad teased and Susannah blushed, which only made him laugh more and made Jake chuckle too.

"He's not my boyfriend!" She screeched over her shoulder.

"Susie's got a boyfriend! Susie's got a boyfriend." She heard Brad chant. She sighed with frustration and pulled open the 8 ft mahogany door.

Her face broke into an uncontrollable smile when she saw him. Jesse De Silva, her best friend and neighbour stood at her door. His dark brown hair was wild and he still had food in his mouth from breakfast. His bright green eyes flashed with excitement and unspoken words.

"Mom let me have one of her old flower boxes!" He said after he had swallowed what looked like toast. He smiled brightly and then his face went serious and he pointed at her. "But that's it! No more girly stuff! No PINK!"

"What…what about the flowers? What if they're pink?" She asked as she tied up her sneakers. He looked at her suspiciously and then sighed.

"Alright fine, but only pink flowers." He turned and headed down the front steps. "Come on slow poke." And with that he disappeared around the other side of his house.

"Bye Mom, going to Jesse's house." She shouted as she closed the door and chased after him.

She stopped at the white gate leading to Jesse's backyard and struggled with the lock. After what seemed like years, she opened the door and raced to the edge of the yard.

"Isn't she a beauty?" Jesse called down from a window and Susannah smiled up at him. The tree house was beautiful. It was high up in an old oak tree, with steps, or wooden planks, nailed into the tree trunk. The walls were painted bright yellow and the roof had real roof shillings on it. There was a large window in each of the 4 walls and each window had a white frame. In the middle on the floor there was a small hole that they climbed through to enter the house. The best part about it was that they had built it together, with a little help from their dads.

"Come one, Susie! We need to get the stuff up here." Jesse said impatiently. She shook her head and scrambled up the tree. She inhaled deeply as her head popped into the tree house and smiled. She loved the smell of the new tree house. It was like a different world up here. Jesse's mom had given them an old, round coffee table and a small book shelf from his attic. Susannah's mom had bought a yellow rug and big soft cushions for them to sit on. They moved Jesse's old toy box into the tree house and Susannah's tea set, for snack purposes only. They tacked a map of Europe on the wall and sat down exhausted from all the moving.

"So where are we going to go first?" he asked her.

"Well lets start in England because my family's from there." Susannah said picking up a little green flag and sticking in on the map.

"But what about my family?" Jesse whined.

"Well…we can stop in Spain and see your family too. But we'll do that at the end, because it's at the bottom." She said with a shrug and he continued pouting. "We can stay there the longest." She said with a smile and he smiled back. She put a red flag on Spain and stood back. "We've got a lot of places to go too." Jesse nodded an agreement and all of a sudden the cow bell that hung just below the tree house began to ring.

"Doorbell." They said smiling at each other. They laid on their stomachs and crawled towards the hole.

"Is anyone up there? Oh! I was started to wonder if there was anyone home." Jesse's mother said smiling up at them. Her short brown hair was curled around her face and she was wearing a peach coloured top with a white skirt and red apron. She had a long tray in her hands with a plate of cookie, peanut butter sandwiches with the crusts cut off and 2 water bottles. They looked down at her curiously and she shrugged. "I just wanted to welcome you to the neighbour hood." Susannah looked at Jesse and he pulled back away from the hole.

"Do you think it's a trap?" He asked her in a whisper and she squinted her eyes thinking seriously. All of a sudden his stomach grumbled and they giggled quietly.

"I think its ok…but how will we get it up here?" She asked.

"I know." Jesse said as he crawled towards the book shelf and found an old basket on the bottom shelf. He tied an extra rope around the handle and lowered it down to his mother.

"Put the food in there." He commanded.

"Excuse me?" His mother said with an amused yet agitated tone.

"Sorry Mom. We're playing a game." Jesse said.

"We're hiding from the aliens who look like regular people." Susannah explained.

"Oh well in that case." His mother took the basket and carefully placed each item in it and then lifted it. "Be careful of those dad-like aliens. There the worst kind." She said with a wink and they kids chuckled and watched her walk away. When Jesse had finally pulled the basket up he took a deep sniff.

"Yup I think its all clear!" He said and dragged the basket to the table. He sat on the blue cushion and she sat on the yellow one (no pink remember). He set the sandwiches and cookies on the table and they two of them ate hungrily. After lunch they collapsed on the floor, in opposite directions with their heads side by side.

"This is so cool!" Susannah said.

"Yea! Good idea Susie." Jesse said with a yawn.

"It's our own place, only we get to come into the tree house." Susannah suggested.

"Only us!" Jesse agreed and Susannah yawned this time. "Susie?"

"Yea Jesse?"

"Do you think…we'll be friends forever?"

"Course!" She looked at him. "You're my bestest friend."

"I'm your only friend." He said and they both laughed.

"Well then you're my only BESTEST friend and you always will be!" She said with a nod and Jesse smiled back at her.


	2. The Jock

_10 years later_

Jesse hit the snooze button on his alarm clock and groaned. The sun was streaming in threw his dark blue drapes. He lifted his head and looked at the clock, which said 8:10. He sighed and dropped his head back onto the pillow. He had to be at school for 9 so he could spare a couple more minutes. Unfortunately he only got 2 more minutes of sleep before there was a knock on his door.

"Jess? It's time to wake up honey." His mother said peeking her head in his room. Her dark hair was still as dark as before, not a touch of grey and she wore it in a French bun. There was sign of her age around her eyes and a touch of it around her stomach but other than that she was pretty much the same woman 10 years ago.

"It's Friday! Cant I have a three day weekend?" He whined into his pillow.

"No." She said opening his drapes so the sun poured into his room.

"Come on Mom!" He said giving her a smile that he had mastered. It was a smile that gave him almost anything that he wanted, whether it was staying out past curfew or going on a date with Kelly Prescott.

"Don't smile at me like that! Did you think that I forgot about your exams starting next week?" She said picking up the dirty laundry on his floor.

"Figures." He grumbled and kicked off the sheets. "Do I have any clean clothes?"

"You know you should really be doing your own laundry by now? You're 18 for God's sake. What are you going to do in 3 months when your half way across the country living by yourself?" She asked giving him a stern look.

"I'll just send my dirty laundry to you…FEDEX!" Her face looked shocked and he smiled at her. "Just kidding mom."

"Yes well…"She sighed. "There are clean clothes on the dryer." She grumbled.

"Thanks mom." He kissed her cheek and raced down the stairs in only his boxer shorts. He stopped to look at himself in one of the mirrors on the wall. He had always been scrawny and awkward as a child and it wasn't until he hit high school that he started to work out. He watched his muscles flex, showing off the time and dedication he had put in at the gym. His biceps were nicely toned and his stomach had a faint outline of a 6-pack. Plus there had been a lot of sun lately so he had a really nice tan that made him-

"Narcissistic much?" Maria said coming up the stairs. Jesse shrugged and then smiled at her.

"Morning Cuzz! Going home today?" He shot back and watched his 16 year old cousin, Maria, flinch. Her curly brown hair was in a pony tail and she was wearing her blue and white cheerleading uniform.

"Jesse, do not tease her!" His father's stern voice came from the living room. "She can leave when she's ready." Jesse rolled his eyes and she stuck her tongue out at him. He went downstairs and threw on a pair of blue jeans and a white Hollister polo. He threw on a checkered blue and white shirt with buttons over top and left the buttons undone and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. He grabbed a pair of white socks and raced back to his room to finish getting ready.

"Bye Mom." Jesse called as he unlocked his black 2011 Corvette C7 that his parents had bought for him on his 18th birthday. Maria skipped past and threw her bag inot the backseat before she got in.

"Be careful driving. Its supposed to rain." His mother said from the front door. He made a point of looking up into the cloud-less blue sky before he said, "Okay" and got into the car.

He started the car and caught a glimpse of a black blurr climb into the old green '98 Hyundai Accent that sat in the driveway next door.

"Looks like the hermit's come out for the day." Maria said as they backed out of the driveway. Jesse sighed, waved to his mother and took off down the road at top speed.

"JD! How's it going?" Adam McTavish said, slapping Jesse on the back. Jesse smiled at his best friend and high-fived him. Adam and Jesse had met when they had both signed up for Football in 9th grade. They became good friends when they, the only 9th graders, both made it on to the varsity team. Now Jesse was the quarterback and Adam the captain.

"Big party tonight! You gonna grace us with your presence?" Adam said leaning on the locker's beside Jesse, while watching the girls walk by.

"I don't know. Probably." He answered, grabbing his math book. He closed his locker and started off towards Homeroom.

"Probably? Man, come on! Hot chicks, beer, loud music! Why wouldn't you go?" Adam said enthusiastically and Jesse shrugged. Lately he was getting tired of the same old routine; party on Friday, hangover on Saturday and then homework on Sunday. "Kelly will be there and I heard on the chick grapevine that she's going to give her V-card to you." Adam said nudging him.

"She said that?" Jesse said feeling hopeful all of a sudden.

"That's what I heard. Come to the party tonight man. It's gonna be hot!" Adam smiled and Jesse sighed.

"Alright I'll be there."

"Yes! Great! It's gonna be fucking amazing. I heard that Bryce Martinson got a new bo-"

"Don't forget to pay for Grad people! Only 14 days away." A loud voice cut off Adam as they entered the main hallway. Adam looked towards the speaker and smirked. He nudged Jesse with a mischievous grin.

"Come on." He said moving towards the table set up against a wall halfway down the hallway. "Hey Ceecee." Adam said, leaning against the wall beside her.

"Adam." She said with a nod, but didn't look at him. She looked briefly at her companion and then stared straight ahead. Jesse could see that her breathing had increased and she held her hands tightly together in her lap. He smirked as he pulled his bag onto his shoulder and stood closer to the table.

"You know I bet you would get more people to pay if you took off that hideous blue top that you're wearing." He said giving Jesse a wink to which Jesse shook his head. Ceecee blushed the colour of her dyed red hair. It was obvious that she was struggling for something to say, but couldn't think of anything.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? If Ceecee was a skank like the rest of them?" Adam shrugged and smiled at Jesse. "Why don't you just ask her out already? I'm getting tired of your sad attempts to get her attention." Came the sharp voice from Ceecee companion. Adam looked nervous for a second and then smirked.

"Well, well. The hermit speaks. How's it going Susie Sunshine? Haven't seen you around here in a while." Adam taunted. Susannah hid her face under her long dark black hair. She didn't look up from the book she was reading, but Jesse could tell that she was paying full attention to what Adam was saying.

"She goes to school everyday." Ceecee said trying to defend her friends honor. Adam gave a snort.

"Oh well then. I guess I just didn't notice you." He snapped and Jesse watched Susannah flinch. Before he could step in she spat back…

"Piss off Adam." He smirked and raises his hands.

"Here's a tip Cee." He leaned close to her and her breath caught. Her bright blue contacts twinkled at him. "Ditch the vamp. She's depressing." He laughed as he walked away. Jesse hesitated before he followed, his eyes lingering on Susannah for a moment longer than necessary. He sighed and started off down the hallway. He nodded to a couple of friend on the football team.

"Jesse!" came a high pitch voice from behind him. He turned around and saw Kelly Prescott strutting towards him. His eyes flicked to Suze's and she immediately looked away. "Hey babe." Kelly said reaching up and giving him a deep kiss.

"Hey." He said when she stepped back. He wrapped an arm around her and they started off down the hall.

"You going to the party tonight?" She asked waving to a group of girls as they walked by.

"Yea, Adam's talked me into it."

"Good because I have this really _hot _dress. I think you're going to like it." She said, whispering into his ear. She pressed her soft lips against his neck and sighed. He coughed uncomfortably and she smiled up at him.

"See you later." She said wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply.

"Alright break it up." Mr. Allen, the math teacher, said appearing in front of them. He was a small man, just reached Jesse's shoulder, with light blonde hair and tired blue eyes that came with late night feedings and diaper changes of a 3 month old baby.

"Uh, Sorry." Jesse mumbled.

"Sorry Mr. Allen." Kelly said with a flirtatious smile. He looked at her then shook his head and headed into the classroom.

"I'll see you at lunch." She said blowing him a kiss and heading off to her English class.

"Man, I'm totally going to bomb my math exam." Jesse said to Adam, as he headed home. "Mr. Allen gave us review tips and half of the stuff on there I don't even remember." Jesse sighed and Adam snorted in the back seat.

"That's because you have a tiny brain and can't retain important information. Such as that street that you just passed was _our_ street." Maria teased from the seat beside him. Adam let out a loud laugh and Jesse swore.

"Shit!" He said hitting the brakes and causing them all to fly forward.

"Seriously man. I thought you've lived there your whole life?" Adam asked.

"I have. I just got…distracted." Jesse said with a shrug as he turned onto his street.

"By what?" Adam smirked.

"I dunno."

"See I told you." Maria gloated. "He suffers from small-brain syndrome. Oh and Narcissism." I caught him staring at himself in the mirror this morning." She crossed her arms in satisfaction as Adam busted out laughing.

"I was checking something." Jesse defended.

"Oh yea? Like how muscular you are?" she mocked.

"Wanna know something about Maria?" Jesse asked and Maria bit her bottom lip with worry. He pulled into the driveway and put the car in park. "She's got 6 toes." He smiled with satisfaction as she gave a sharp gasp.

"Really?" Adam asked, leaning forward so he could see her face. Her face crumbled and she flew open the door and raced into the house sobbing. Adam looked shocked. "What's wrong with her? 6 toes is hot!" he said.

"You're a freak." Jesse chuckled as he turned off the car and pulled back the seat for Adam to get out.

"Hey I've got a think for quirkiness." Adam said as he grabbed his bag.

"Which is why out of all the girls at school you chose the albino to fall in love with?" Jesse teased.

"I don't love her." Adam defended. "I just like to annoy her." Jesse laughed.

"I bet that's not all you like to do!"

"Shut up man. People might here!" Adam looked around nervously.

"So?"

"So…I cant ruin my rep." He whispered and Jesse shook his head.

"And Ceecee would ruin your rep?" Jesse asked.

"Buddy, she's a freak! Almost as bad as Count Dracula next door." Adam smirked as he pointed to the green house next door and Jesse laughed.

"Count Dracula was a boy. She's a girl." They both looked towards Suze's house.

"You never know…she could be a boy!" Adam said.

"Trust me," Jesse answered. "She's a girl."

"You would know." Adam said with a smirk and went into the house. Jesse smiled and looked at the house again. He sighed and then went in and shut the door.

They arrived at Debbie Mancuso's mansion around 9:30. The music was loud and people were everywhere. Maria disappeared into the crowd without a word. She was still mad at him for the toe comment.

"Beer's probably in the kitchen." Adam said and headed for the most crowded spot. They spotted a couple of their football buddies and went to hang out with them. They were hanging around the garbage can full of beer bottles and ice.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Tad Beaumont asked as they high-fived each other.

"Did you see your girl, Jess?" Bryce asked with an amused expression. "Smokin' in that dress!" Jesse smirked.

"I haven't seen her yet. But she told me about it."

"Man, she's not going to remain a virgin for long in that dress." Bryce said and Jesse knew he should've gotten upset that his friend was talking about his "girlfriend" like that but he didn't really care. Kelly was nice and pretty but she was dumb and studied her nails when he spoke. Basically not the kind of girl that he was going to bring home to mom and dad.

"Well, well. Adam. Check who just walked in." Tad said. All the guys turned and saw a flash of bright red followed by black. He watched them walk in and look around. Ceecee was clearly looking for someone and looked eager to have a good time, where as Suze looked very uncomfortable and annoyed.

"The freaks are in town." Bryce joked.

"Who invited _them_?" Kelly asked appearing at Jesse's side and causing him to jump.

"Ceecee's on the student council with Debbie." Adam explained as he watched her move through the crowd and Jesse smirked at him.

"Well…" She said with a looked of disgust on her face. Then she looked away and smiled. "So what do you think?" She said posing for Jesse. He looked at his friends and smiled.

"Think of what?" He asked and some of the guys sniggered in the background. She looked embarrassed for a second and then smiled.

"My dress silly!" She laughed and touched his arm lightly. Bryce whistled and Tad "Whooped"

"Oh…" Jesse said pretending to study it. She gave a little twirl and smiled at him.

"It's hot Kel, smokin' hot!" Bryce said. It was a tight black dress that ended just below her small butt and pushed her chest up to make them look more appealing than they already did. She wore thin strapped high heels which made her 3 inches taller and made her legs look amazing. Jesse thought about Bryce's comment; she defiantly wouldn't be a virgin after tonight.

"It's amazing." Jesse said to her. Her eyes filled with happiness and then lust. "Wanna go upstairs?" He whispered into her ear. She gasped playfully and gave a nervous giggle.

"Now?"

"Why not?"

"Well I wanted to show it off first. Once I take it off I wont want to put it back on." She said running her hands over her dress in a seductive way.

"Fine by me." He said with that smile. She looked at it and her breath hitched, then she looked away.

"Jesse." She laughed. "Later…I promise." He groaned as she reached up and kissed him lightly. "I'm gonna go find Debb. See you." She said tossing her curled blonde hair over her shoulder and smiling at him.

"Man, you are one lucky SOB." Bryce said watching her walk away.

"It's gonna be a great night!" Jesse said and Bryce laughed.

"Excuse me." Someone pushed their hand into Jesse's back and gave a quick shove, moving him out of the way and crashing into Bryce. Jesse turned around, annoyed and ready to rip the person to shreds, but stopped. Suze stuck her hand in the ice water and grabbed a beer bottle. She popped off the top and took a big gulp. When she was done she sighed and opened her eyes.

"Jeez Buffy! Don't be so rough." Bryce said.

"Buffy was a Vampire Slayer, not a vampire moron!" She snapped and Jesse chuckled.

"At least she was hot!" Bryce spit back.

"Oh that's right!" She said with a sarcastic laugh. "I forgot my life's mission was to dress like a skank and pretend that you're smart just so you'll think I'm hot!" She snapped and then shook her head with disgust as she stormed away.

"Man she must have like permanent PMS." Bryce said and Jesse laughed and shook his head as he watched her push her way through the crowd.

The clock in the living room struck 12 and the party was hotter than every. By this point people, well most people, were piss drunk and making out with the first person they saw. To Jesse's satisfaction there was a lot of girl on girl action.

He walked up the stairs in search of Kelly because she had promised him a "later" and he thought 3 hours was long enough. He stepped over some drunk freshman girl who had passed out in the middle of the hallway and avoided an eager couple pressed up against the wall. He stumbled over a kid, barely out of elementary school, who was clearly on something. When he straightened up a door opened and next thing he knew he collided with somebody.

"Oof." He said as he was elbowed in the stomach.

"Hey! Watch where you're going Mor-oh sorry." Suze looked up at him worried for a second. Then she became aware that his hands were still on her and looked down at them. He quickly dropped his hands and she looked up at him. "Sorry." She mumbled and started to walk away.

"Hey wait!" He called after her. She paused and then slowly turned around. She looked at him with a semi curious/worried expression. He had so many things that he wanted to say, but he didn't know where to start. When she raised her eyebrows he realized that he was just standing there staring at her. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh…have you seen Kelly anywhere?" He managed to say. He watched her expression change from curiosity to confusion to annoyance.

"No, sorry." She snapped and turned, disappearing down the stairs. He kicked himself for being an idiot and turned back to the closed doors. He debated knocking on every door and then decided that he didn't really care and knocked on every door, interrupting couple after couple. When he thought he'd checked every room he noticed that the cupboard door was open. He hesitated, bracing himself and opened the door. He felt his face heat up as he took in the sight before him.

Kelly had her dress up around her waist and her breasts were fully exposed. Her legs were wrapped tightly around Bryce, whose pants were down around his ankles. She bit her bottom lip and opened her eyes briefly. She gasped when she caught sight of Jesse.

"Yea, you like that?" Bryce said, his face buried in her neck.

"No! STOP!" She panted, pushing him slightly. Bryce looked at her curiously and then looked over his shoulder and saw Jesse standing there. Jesse frowned, shook his head and walked away.

"Jesse wait!" He heard Kelly calling, but he kept walking. "Jesse! It's not…it's not what you think." She screeched. He laughed sarcastically and started down the stairs.

"Jesse please!" She shouted and everyone stopped talking and looked up at them. He sighed and looked up at her. She swayed slightly from too much alcohol, her hair was tousled and stuck to her forehead and her dress was uneven and wrinkled. "Jesse…I'm sorry." She said with a pleading expression. "I didn't mean it. I'm really drunk." She said with a chuckle, and when she saw his expression her smile dropped. "Please." She whispered stepping closer to him. He looked at her and shook his head.

He shook his head and turned away from her. Without another word to anyone he headed out to his car. He heard people calling her names as he walked by, and some offered words of consolation to him. One girl actually threw herself at him.

He managed to get out to his car in 10 minutes and left Debbie's without looking back. As he drove he realized that he wasn't really mad that she had cheated on him. He didn't really like Kelly to begin with, but he was more upset about Bryce. "Sleeping" with your best friend's girl was completely against the rules. His speed increased as he thought about it. He would never even think of doing that to one of his friends, even if he was intoxicated. He shook his head and blared the music to push the image out of his head. Before he knew it he had passed his street for the second time that day.

"FUCK!" He hit the brakes and the tires squealed as he did a quick U-turn.

As he pulled into his driveway he looked at the completely dark house. Not a single light was on, which meant his parents were both asleep. He sighed and shut off the car. As the world went dark and quiet around him he noticed that there was a soft light coming from the back of the house. His heart race quickened as every bad scenario ran through his mind. He quietly got out of the car and headed to the backyard.

As he opened the gate, he noticed that they light was coming from the tree house. It wasn't too bright, just a couple of flashlights and a lantern. An old lantern that had been hidden in a secret compartment in the toy box. He smiled and headed up to the tree house.


	3. The Hermit

_Earlier that same Day_

"Suze! Suze! Wake up." David's quivering voice registered somewhere in the back of her mind. "Suze. She's done it again." With that her eyes popped open and she jumped out of bed. 10 year old David was standing beside her bed looking anxious. He was still in his spider man pajamas and his red hair was wild and crazy.

"Fuck, where is she?" Suze asked him and he flinched at her bad word.

"Kitchen." David said and Suze raced past him, down the stairs.

"Mom?" She called and got no response. "Fuck, fuck!" She grumbled. When she entered the kitchen the smell hit her like a ton of bricks and she covered her mouth to stop herself from gagging.

Her mother sat on the floor, her back against the cupboards in last night's outfit, vomit covered her black shirt and there were pools of it on the floor in random spots.

"Oh for the Love of God!" She carefully stepped around the puddles and went to her mother's side.

"Mom?" She said touching her shoulder. Her mother groaned and opened her eyes. Her eyeliner and mascara had smeared giving her an upside down Gene Simmons look. She gave a weak smile and then hiccupped.

"Hey Susie baby." Suze sighed when her mother spoke. She took a deep breath and grabbed her mother's arms gently.

"Come on Mom. Time for a shower."

"Ugh, my head hurts." She said staggering. "What is that awful smell." Suze bit her tongue as she helped her mother up the stairs, avoiding the puddles along the way.

When they were in her mother's on suite bathroom, Suze stripped her mother's clothes off and helped her into the shower. She stood outside the shower and remembered how embarrassed she had been the first 3 times she done this. Now a million times later it seemed like the norm; like she was bathing a child, almost.

Half an hour later her mother was clean, in fresh pj's and asleep in bed with a cold cloth on her head. She grabbed the cleaning products and headed down the stairs to clean the house. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that the kitchen was completely spotless.

"I did it. Is it ok?" David asked, appearing at her side. Tears formed in her eyes and she took a deep breath. 10 year old kids should never wake up on a school morning and have to clean up their mother's vomit. She sighed and looked away so he wouldn't see the tears. Once she was sure she had a handle on her tears she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and smiled at him.

"It's amazing! Thank you." He blushed slightly, but smiled. "I'm gonna go shower and then I'll make you your favorite breakfast, pancakes and bacon." David smiled but shook his head.

"I've gotta catch the bus in…" he counted the minutes on the clock carefully. "15 minutes." Suze sighed as she looked at the clock, which said 8:10.

"Sorry buddy. What about tomorrow?"

"Ok." He said with a shrug. She kissed his head and headed up the stairs. "Oh don't forget your lunch." She called down to him. "I put it in the fridge."

20 minutes later she was wearing a black t-shirt that clung to her body, dark blue jeans and her black motorcycle jacket. Her dyed black hair was damp and starting to curl with the humidity and she had put on black eyeliner and mascara. She shrugged at herself in the mirror and checked on her mother again. As she was closing the door she caught a glimpse of the time. She was really late. She grabbed her backpack from her room and raced out to the car.

She caught site of Maria climbing into Jesse's car in her blue cheerleading uniform and white flats. Suze watched as she tossed her black curly ponytail over her shoulder and smiled at her aunt in the doorway. Suze quickly locked the house and scurried to the car.

She started her car and her cell rang. She cussed as she searched threw her back pack to find it. When she finally did find it, Ceecee's name flashed on the screen and Suze flipped the phone open.

"Sup?" Suze said in a mocking tone. She watched Jesse's car pull out of the drive way and fly by as she remained sitting in her driveway.

"I have a huge favor to ask you!"

"Can it wait? I'll be there in 10."

"Ok we'll meet in the main hallway." Ceecee said and then hung up. She threw her phone back into her bag and backed out the driveway

10 minutes later she was pulling into the school parking lot behind Jesse's sleek corvette. It had been the talk of the century when he pulled into school with that thing. Everyone had crowded around him and asked him about it, how much it cost, what it was like to drive, blah blah blah! It made her want to puke. He got the nice fancy car and she got stuck with a hunk of junk.

He spotted the only open spot closest to the school and took it, which left Suze to park by the back of the parking lot, beside the dumpsters. She sighed as she found her usual spot. She turned off her car and grabbed her back pack.

"Hey Susie." When the voice reached her ears she froze. She closed her eyes and silently groaned before she turned around and smiled slightly.

"Hey Mike." She said to the Michael Meducci who was leaning on the hood of his own hunk of junk car across the aisle.

"How's it going?" He asked jutting out his bony chin and sticking his hands in his pockets. His jet black hair was combed neatly to the side and his thick dark, square framed glasses hid his deep blue eyes. He wore light blue jeans with a red polo shirt, which would've looked good on a guy like Jesse, but didn't suit Mike. He was the band-t-shirt-and-jeans-with-holes-in-them kind of guy.

"It's going fine." Suze said, trying desperately to give him the hint. She walked away from him, but he just followed her.

"I was thinking…" Mike started.

"That's dangerous. You shouldn't do that." Suze teased and he chuckled.

"Funny. Anyways, I was thinking that maybe we could go see a movie or something?" He asked.

"Umm….."She opened the door to the school and racked her brain for a good enough cop out.

"You know…I haven't been able to pay you back for how much you helped me with my sister that one time…" Mike's voice drifted off as he remembered the time that Suze had helped Mike take care of his sister after she had gotten really drunk at one of the parties.

"Oh it's ok." Suze said with a shrug as she opened her locker. "Don't worry about it."

"I'd really like to take you out Suze. How about tonight?"

"Oh well you I cant because…" she froze trying to come up with a reason.

"She's going out with me." Ceecee said, coming to her rescue.

"Oh." Mike said with a frown. "Where are you going? Maybe I could meet up with you?" He said looking hopeful.

"Excuse me, but it's called _girls_ _night_ for a reason." Ceecee snapped. "No boys allowed." He scowled at her for a second and then shrugged.

"Oh well. I guess we've got the whole summer." He said brightly and Suze gulped.

"Defiantly." Ceecee said positively.

"Alright, well I guess I'll see you in Bio later." He waved at Suze before walking off.

"Phew, that was a close call." Ceecee said, leaning up against the lockers and picking at her bright orange nails.

"Except now I have to avoid him for the whole summer." Ceecee shrugged.

"He…isn't too bad." She said unconvincingly. Suze closed her locker and sighed.

"I cant wait to get out of here."

"Don't be that impatient. Us poor folk have to stay local, which means I'll be stranded here for the rest of eternity." Ceecee whined.

"You will look out for Dave right?" Suze asked, suddenly worried about her baby brother.

"Course. He's like family." Ceecee said. "No worries Susie, I'll take care of him while your away becoming a paleontologist." Suze laughed.

"Its an Anthropologist."

"Same thing." Ceecee said with a shrug and Suze laughed again.

"One is human bones the other is Dinosaurs. Completely different."

"Still bones." Ceecee said looking bored and Suze shook her head. "So… Wanna know what we're doing tonight?" She said with a devious smile.

"I thought you were just kidding?"

"Nope we're going out." Suze looked at her worried.

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not." Ceecee said honestly. "Debbie Mancuso invited me to a party."

"No way Ceecee! I hate parties."

"Please! You're my best friend. I cant go into the lions den without my whip!" This made Suze chuckle.

"Fine." She said and Ceecee squealed. "Is that what the favor was?" Ceecee's smile dropped.

"Uh no…I need you to help me get people to pay for Grad."

"No way!" Suze snapped.

"Oh Come on Suze!"

"No I don't want to sit in the middle of the hallway and give people the opportunity to make fun."

"And I do?" Ceecee begged with her eyes. "Come on Suze. Don't make me do this by myself."

Suze sat at the table in the middle of the main hallway and opened her latest novel, Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris. They were surrounded by kids and Suze continued with her reading and left Ceecee to deal with their Grad debt. When the crowd cleared away Suze grumbled.

"I can't believe you talked me into this." She said.

"You wouldn't want me to sit her all on my own would you?" Ceecee said pushing back her bright red curly hair. Suze rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oh and this party…at Debbie's…it starts at 8. So I was thinking that we should go around 10." Ceecee said matter of fact like. Suze felt a ball of uncertainty in her stomach. She hated parties and the last thing she wanted to do was go to one, but she had promised Ceecee.

"I guess I'll drive. Seeing as your quite the boozer lately." Suze teased and Ceecee shrugged.

"One of us has to be normal." She said with a grin and then her grin dropped as Adam and Jesse came into view. "Oh God!" She said shrinking in her seat and playing with a long strand of red hair. Suze rolled her eyes and held her breath. She waited for her moment of embarrassment that was soon to come. Too soon…

"Don't forget to pay for Grad people! Only 14 days away." Ceecee shouted in a crisp but high pitched voice. Suze groaned and stuck her nose farther into the book. Hair draped across her face so majority of it was covered.

"He's coming over here." Ceecee whispered nervously.

"What do you expect? You shouted so loud the penguins in Antarctica could here you!" Suze snapped.

"What do I do?" she asked ignoring Suze's comment.

"Nothing. Be "normal" as you call it." Suze whispered and pretended to be reading.

"Hey Ceecee." Adam said leaning against the wall next to Ceecee. Suze noticed Ceecee's tightly clasped hands in her lap and smirked.

"Adam." She said in a stern/stuck-up tone. Suze rolled her eyes.

"You know, I bet you'd get more people to pay if you took off that hideous blue top that you're wearing." Adam said. Ceecee's breath caught and Suze could see her knuckled turn white. Suze sized and realized Ceecee wasn't going to say anything.

"You'd like that would you?" If Ceecee was a skank like the rest of them?" She snapped at him. She couldn't see him face but she he would smile, as if to save his dignity. So she added. "Why don't you just ask her out already? I'm getting tired of your sad attempts to get her attention." She heard Ceecee sigh and heard Adam snort.

"Well, well. The hermit speaks. How's it going Susie Sunshine? Haven't seen you around here in a while." Adam fought back and Suze chose to ignore it, partly because she knew that he had seen her. He made fun of her at least 2 times a day.

"She goes to school everyday." Ceecee defended and Suze groaned. Ceecee meant well, but she always ended up saying the wrong thing.

"Oh well then. I guess I just never noticed you." As the words left his mouth, Suze felt her body rejects her tough front and flinch.

"Piss off Adam." She snapped at him and everyone knew that Adam had won.

"Here's a tip Cee. Ditch the vamp. She's kind of depressing." And with that he let out a cackle and walked away. Suze waited for Jesse to leave before she lifted her head. The last person she wanted to show emotion to was Jesse.

"He didn't mean it." Ceecee said nervously. Suze looked at her friend and sighed. Then she turned and looked at Adam.

"I don't fucking care what he has to say." She sighed. "He Cee…Here's a tip…I'm a total douche bag." She mocked. "Why do you like him? I mean look at him." They both looked at Adam as he lifted a girls skirt and laughed when she burst into tears.

"Well…its for the same reason that you like Jesse." Ceecee shot back and Suze choked.

"I…I…No Way!" She stumbled over her words and Ceecee looked victorious. "I don't like him."

"Oh no?"

"No, defiantly not!" Suze looked in his direction and shook her head. Sure she still had those feelings that she had since they were kids, but it wasn't serious. At that moment she heard a high pitched voice shout, "Jesse". Almost everyone in the hallway stopped what they were doing and looked towards the voice. Kelly Prescott strutted towards him in her blue and white cheerleading uniform, her blonde hair straight down her back. She watched as Kelly smiled up at him and then noticed that Jesse was watching her and she looked away. When she looked back they were exchanging saliva.

"Ugh, gross!" Ceecee voiced both of their thoughts. "You sure you don't want that?" She said with a playful nudge.

"Defiantly not!" Suze said with a nod.

The phone rang at 9 o'clock that night. Suze was sitting with David watching Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. It was his favorite movie and since their mother had been feeling sick they ordered a pizza and watched movies.

"Hello?" David said into the phone. "Oh hey Ceecee. Yea she's right here." He passed Suze the phone. "It's your girlfriend." He said giving her a wink and started to giggle. She shoved his head lightly,

"Very funny baby brother." She said to him, then lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello Susannah Simon speaking."

"So Funny! Listen. Are you coming to pick me up or what?" Ceecee said impatiently.

"I thought you said 10?"

"Yea well…I thought we might go early."

"Oh yea….No!" Suze said sarcastically.

"Come on Suze."

"I can't pick you up now anyways. I'm watching Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith with David.

"It's Return of the Jedi!" They both corrected at the same time and Suze smiled and shrugged. "Come on. Please!" Ceecee begged.

"The movie's almost done. 20 minutes." Suze said.

"But…"

"20 minutes Cee." Suze said mocking Adam from this morning. "Huh I kinda like it…Cee." She let out a small giggle and heard Ceecee sigh.

"20 minutes! No later!" She said and hung up.

"Sheesh! She's bossy today." Suze said hanging up the phone.

"You can go if you want to." David said with a small smile. Her heart broke at his loneliness.

"No Way!" She said with a smile. "And miss the best part if the movie? I don't think so!"

"Suze, the best part is when Luke finds out about Darth Vader." David said with a laugh.

"I'd rather be here with you than at a lame party anyways." She said with a shrug and he looked at her curiously.

"You're weird. Did you know that?" He said to her. She sighed and nodded.

"So I've been told, many times."

Half an hour later she was at Ceecee's front door and Ceecee was pushing her towards her room, avoiding her over protective parents and her excited Terrier Tito.

"I need help!" She begged and Suze rolled her eyes.

"I don't think I'm qualified to help. A shrink would be better. Hey I have Dr. Osmond's number still if you want it."

"Haha. No seriously!" She opened her door and Suze shook her head.

"You weren't kidding when you said you need help. It looks like someone tore apart your room." Suze chuckled as she looked at the different articles of clothes around the room.

"I'm not sure which looks better yellow or green?" She held up a long yellow blouse with a black belt in one hand and a green summer dress with a white jacket in the other. Suze pretended to actually think about it, for Ceecee's sake, and then nodded.

"Yellow, I guess."

"You guess? What do you mean you guess?" She asked on the brink of hysterics. Suze couldn't hide her amusement any longer. She let out a laugh and Ceecee pouted. "It's not funny."

"Seriously it's not that big of a deal. Adam's going to be so drunk by the time we get there anyways. He won't care what you're wearing." This struck home and Ceecee nodded.

"Yellow it is."

They pulled into Debbie's long driveway and parked in the only visitor parking spot left. Ceecee fussed with the green dress and turned to Suze.

"Are you sure that I look ok?" Suze shrugged.

"Yea. It's ok." She bit back a laugh as she saw Ceecee start to panic. "Jeez Cee, you're such a girl." Ceecee rolled her eyes.

"FYI you are too. Unless you have to tell me something. That would explain why you're so in love with me!" Ceecee teased and Suze cringed.

"Sorry but I don't do girls." Suze made a gagging motion.

"You don't do anything." Ceecee laughed as they reached the front door and Suze decided not to argue. "Should we knock?" Ceecee asked all the sudden quiet.

"What do you think this is? A dinner party?" Suze asked and Ceecee chuckled.

"Imagine."

"Yea, Adam defiantly would not be invited." Suze laughed and Ceecee frowned.

"Yea well neither would you." Ceecee teased.

"Touché."

Ceecee opened the door and loud music fill their ears and the nauseating smell of too much perfume and sweat made Suze want to puke. They looked around and spotted many people from school. One boy in their bio class was standing on the glass coffee table. Suze shook her head and looked away. She was bored already.

"I'm gonna get a beer, want one?" Ceecee shouted over the music.

"No, I'm driving remember?" Ceecee smiled and nodded.

"Be right back." She said disappearing into the crowd. She looked around and spotted Jesse by the kitchen. Kelly was twirling around showing off her extremely skanky dress. Suze shook her head and headed outside for fresh air.

Outside was a lot better; less music and people, plus the air was cooler and clean. The only downside was that it seemed that everywhere she looked there were people making out. She groaned as she looked around at the hot tub, the pool and the garden which were filled with hormone driven, sex craved teens.

"So no boys allowed huh?" Mike said in her ear and caused her to jump. She smiled slightly at him and pretended to be suffering from the fright.

"Way to sneak up on a girl." She faked a laugh and sat on the closest vacant bench. He sat next to her, a little too close and she could smell scotch on his breath. She felt her stomach churn as he scooted closer to her.

"I never thought parties were you're scene." Mike said.

"I decided to widen my horizons." As the words left her mouth she felt her cheeks heat. She bit her tongue and hoped that Mike wouldn't take it in the "pervy" way. His next move showed that he had. He casually placed an arm around her shoulder and slid closer.

"You know, I really like you." He said.

"Yes I know, but-"he placed her finger to her lips and smiled.

"Shh…"The next move completely shocked her. He touched her face shocking her into a stilled silence. He then licked his lips, bent forward and kissed her. She stared at his closed eyes with horror. When his tongue slipped through her lips and met her tongue she broke from her frozen horror and jumped away from him. She stared down at his dazed face in pure shock. She couldn't speak. All she wanted to do was get away and rinse out her mouth. If she had stayed a moment longer she would've puked. She heard him call her name as she raced into the house but she didn't stop to talk, she just kept going. She spotted a garbage can filled with ice and beer and headed in that direction.

"Excuse me." She said shoving the person, who stood between her and the garbage can, out of the way. She grabbed a bottle hastily and popped the top off. She took a long swig and sighed when she had stopped.

"Jeez Buffy! Don't be so rough." Bryce Martinson said, with a smirk. Her eyes narrowed as she took in Bryce's pale faze and glossy blue eyes, his blonde hair was sticking to his heat with sweat. In the corner of her eye she saw Jesse standing beside him and realized he was the one that she had pushed. But she never looked at him, or offered an apology.

"Buffy was a vampire slayer, not a vampire moron." She corrected and to her surprise Jesse laughed.

"At least she was hot!" Bryce said with a triumphant smile. Suze resisted the urge to sucker punch him.

"Oh that's right! I forgot that my life's mission was to dress like a skank and pretend that you're smart just so you'll think I'm hot!" She snapped and walked away muttering under her breath.

She spotted Ceecee by the pool table. She was leaning against it and talking casually with a guy from chemistry while Adam stared at them with obvious jealousy and anger. When she looked away she spotted Michael right away and immediately panicked. She looked around and spotted a closed door, so she opened it and went inside.

She waited a second and then turned around. It was pitch black in the room but she could see the outline of objects in the middle of the room. She hesitated before she felt along the wall for the light switch and when she turned on the light she sighed. It was like a home movie theater. At the far wall there was a huge screen that covered majority of the wall, dark red curtains covered the windows and there were three rows of red armchairs in front of the screen. She looked around the room and spotted everything that would make the TV work.

20 agonizingly long minutes later she had the Strangers playing on the screen at a low volume. She turned off the lights and made herself comfortable in the second row of chairs.

2 hours later the movie ended and Suze yawned. She checked her phone and noticed that it was almost 12. She didn't feel like staying any longer and went searching for Ceecee. She started off in the more crowded spaces, but people were so drunk that it was hard to move let alone search for someone. So she climbed the stairs and looked out over the crowd. No red anywhere. She sighed and looked up the long stair case. Maybe Ceecee was…but should she go and look for her?

Suze debated the subject for a minute then decided her need to go home was more important than her friend having a drunk hook-up with some random. She climbed the stairs and watched a girl with short blonde hair lie down in the middle of the hallway and close her eyes. When she reached the landing a girl with straight brown hair and dark brown eyes bumped into her.

"Oh 'Scuse me. But have you seen my boyfriend?" She asked staggering as she spoke. Suze wanted to brush her off but there was something about defenseless drunk people that she had this strong urge to help.

"Um…what does he look like?"

"Well…" She laughed. "He's this tall, brown hair, beautiful blue eyes and he's got…he's got…"she waved her hands over her shirt trying to figure out what to say. Suze looked down the hall and spotted a guy leaning against the wall, who matched the girl's description. Plus he was wearing a dark blue shirt with white flowers on it, like something that you would wear to Hawaii.

"Does he have flowers on his shirt?" Suze asked and the girl smiled.

"Yes that's it! Flowers!" She laughed.

"Down there." Suze pointed to the guy and the girl gasped.

"There he is." The girl cried. "Tommy baby! Where were you?" The boy looked up and smiled. They embraced each other hungrily and Suze cringed as they pressed up against the wall. She looked around at the closed doors. She didn't want to disturb anyone, so instead of knocking she started calling out for Ceecee.

"Ceecee? Are you up here? Ceecee?" She called and got no response at first. But then when she called again she heard something from one of the closed doors. She moved towards it and opened it.

"Ceecee?" She asked. "Oh God!" She said at the sight of Kelly and Bryce pressed up against fresh towels thrusting against each other. Neither one noticed her so she closed the door over and headed back down the hallway. She felt nauseous and went into the bathroom, which luckily was open. She splashed cold water on her face and calmed herself down. Now she remembered why she hated parties. When she opened the door somebody hastily walked into her.

"Hey watch where you're going mor-oh sorry." She instantly apologized as she realized that it was Jesse that she had walked into. He stared down at her with a curious expression and she became aware of his warm hands on her arms. She looked down at them, to make sure she wasn't dreaming and he quickly let go of her. He looked at her daze and she felt her cheeks heat up. "Sorry." She said again stepping around him and heading downstairs.

"Hey wait!" She froze at the sound of his voice and turned slowly. He stood staring at her like she had three heads. She felt her anxiety increase, which only made her become more annoyed. To show her impatience she raised her eyebrows and he coughed.

"Uh have you seen Kelly anywhere?" He asked. Suze was confused and annoyed but she also felt a little bad for him as her eyes flicked to the closet door and she remembered what she saw.

"No, sorry." She said quickly and turned hurrying down the stairs without looking back. She spotted Ceecee on the way down. She was making out with Adam, in a dark corner. Trust Adam to make sure it's where no one can see them. She debated breaking up her friend, but she knew this would mean a lot to Ceecee and decided to leave her. She would text her later and see if she needed a lift, but for now she needed to get out of here.

Suze pulled into her driveway and turned off the car. She sat in silence and breathed deeply. She hated parties, which was why she avoided them. She kicked herself for letting Ceecee convince her to go. All she wanted to do was be a kid again, carefree and in bed by 10.

She sighed as she climbed out of the car. She looked up at the house and in the distance she spotted the outline of the old tree house. What better way to be a kid again then to revisit the place where she spent almost every minute as a child? She smiled as she headed towards the gate. Just a couple of minutes in there wouldn't hurt anybody.


	4. The Tree House Pt II

Jesse popped his head threw the hole in the floor of the tree house and spotted Suze sitting in front of the cork board. Since they had put up the map of Europe they had added a variety of different things such as different foods they were going to try and specific spots that they were going to see. The best part of the board was the pictures that they had taken and put on there. Jesse could tell that she was looking at one specific picture, a picture of the two of them sitting in a bucket on the Ferris wheel at a carnival when they were 13, before everything had changed.

"Hey." He said as he climbed in. She jumped and turned around. Her eyes were red and most of her make up had washed away. She wiped her cheeks and turned back to the cork board. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok. It's your tree house." She said wrapping her arms tightly around her tiny waist. He looked around the place and sighed.

"Jeez. It's been a while. I remember it being a lot bigger before." She smiled and nodded her head.

"Do you come up here often?" She asked making direct eye contact.

"No. I haven't been up here since…"his voice faded and she looked away. She inhaled deeply and let out a shaky breath.

"I should go." She said and crawled towards the hole.

"No. Please…stay." He said reaching out and gently grabbing her arm. She looked at him with shock and he let go. "It's just…well we haven't talked in a really long time. Years actually." He looked back up at her. "Please?" She debated it for a second and then sat back, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them. They sat in silence and he felt like an idiot. He asked her to stay and couldn't think of anything to say. He sighed and rubbed his face. Her sudden chuckling broke the silence and he smiled at her. "What?"

"I was just…remember those stupid friendship bracelets that I talked you into making?" She said.

"Yea we braided them. Mine was black and yellow and yours was pink and white."

"Big surprise there! Everything I owned was pink." She said with a chuckle. "Big change now. Everything I own is black." She smiled and then it faded.

"I, uh, think I still have mine." He said and she looked up at him with amusement.

"You do?"

"Yea. I put it…in here!" He squinted at the bookshelf and crawled over to it. He pulled a little wooden box off the top shelf and blew the dust off. He brushed the rest of the dust off and the tiny pink heart that was painted on top of the box appeared. He smiled and lifted the lid. Sure enough the bracelet was sitting on top of a bunch of other things that he had kept.

"Is that the box I gave you for your birthday?" she said scooting closer to him and he smiled.

"Yea, the one that all my friends made fun of me for."

"Friends! Ha! They were no friends." She said bitterly as she leaned over and looked in the box.

"What? They were good friends?" He said and she looked at him with an "Are you serious?" expression.

"Where were they when you got locked in the girl's bathroom at school? Or when you were failing math and decided to study for it at 10 o'clock at night?" She raised her eyebrows and he smiled at her.

"Ok. Let's be fair though. They weren't as good of a friend as you are…were." Her smile faltered and she sighed.

"Let's see what we have in this box of secrets." She said snatching the box from his hands before he could stop her. She pulled out the bracelet and smiled at she studied it. Then she squeezed it onto her wrist and pulled of the next item.

"Oh my! You kept these too?" She said as she unfolded all the drawings and letters that they had made for each other, well all the drawings that she had made for him. "I never knew you were such a pack rat!" She said looking sideways at a drawing she had given him. She shrugged and put it in the pile beside her.

"I kept pretty much everything." He said with a smile. She looked at him briefly, giving him an expression that he couldn't read and then continued on, picking out birthday cards, letters and a pink shiny rock. He remembered her tiny voice say _"so you'll never forget me" _as she put the rock in his hands, when they were 9. At the bottom of the box was a folded up piece of paper. She stopped moving and he knew that she knew what it was.

"This one's my favorite." He whispered and took it out. He unfolded it and laid it out for both of them to see.

It was a drawing of Suze and Jesse as stick people. Behind them was the Eiffel tower and the ocean. In front of the ocean was a huge house that they would live in. Next to Jesse was a little boy with blonde hair and next to Suze was a little girl with dark brown pig tails. This was the future that they had planned, a huge house on the beach, in Paris, with two kids. She sighed and he looked at her. With tears in her eyes, all the familiar feelings rushed back to him and all he wanted to do was take the pain away and make it better.

"We drew that they day before my dad died, remember?" She said wiping away the falling tears. He looked down and remembered that he had added the kids because she had to leave early for supper. That was the last day that they had fun together.

"We were 14." He said.

"First week of high school." She sighed. Jesse remembered waking up at 2 in the morning to the sound of rocks hitting his window. When he finally managed to open it he looked down and saw a grief stricken Suze in her pink night gown, crying and shaking in the cold September breeze. She told him to meet her in the tree house. He remembered climbing down and seeing flashing lights outside of her house and seeing an ambulance drive away.

When he had climbed into the tree house she was sitting on her cushion, looking out the window at her house, her knees up at her chest and she hugged them tightly. Then she said those 3 words that he would never forget. Those 3 words that meant the end of life as they knew it; _my dad's dead._ He had wrapped her in his thin arms and she had cried into his chest.

"This probably wasn't a good idea." She said pulling him from his memories. She placed everything back in the box and closed the lid. She looked down at her wrist and sighed before she started to take the bracelet off. He grabbed her shaky hand and felt the fabric of his bracelet around her wrist. She stopped moving and her eyes met eyes, nervously shifting from eye to eye.

"Suze…I understand." He said. "I didn't then, but I do now."

"How…How could you? You're dad is still…is lying in there fast asleep." She cried as she pointed to his house. "You wake up every morning to a happy household. You don't have a mother who drinks every night and a little brother who wakes up to the task of cleaning up his mother's vomit from the night before. You don't have two brothers who abandoned you because they couldn't handle it. How do you know? How?" She was sobbing now. He moved closer and as he had 4 years ago, wrapped his arms around her and she cried into his chest.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "Sh…it's ok."

"No. It'll never be ok. It will never be the same." She whispered back.

"Oh course it will. You'll see." He smiled. "I'll make sure of it. You want to find a shoe box and glue macaroni noodles and sparkles to the outside?" He asked. She shook her head and smiled up at him. This was when he noticed how truly close she was. He noticed how glossy her eyes were, and how the tip of her nose was red, and that she sill had a small cluster of freckles on her nose and cheeks. He also noticed how soft her lips were and how close they were to his.

"I'm sorry." He whispered again and then his mouth met hers for the first time in 4 years. He felt her hesitate at first and then she melted and kissed him back. She was the one who made the next move. As the kiss deepened she sat up straighter and climbed onto his lap, straddling him and pulling his head closer to hers, running her fingers through his hair. He pulled her closer and ran his hands under her shirt and felt the smooth skin on her back. She broke the kiss and looked down at him. She studied his face for what seemed like years before she kissed him again, this time softer, gentler. It didn't take long for their clothes to be shed and to be rolling around on the floor of the tree house.

Afterwards they laid side by side on the floor. She rested her head on his chest and watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. She traced her fingers along the indents of her toned muscles and smiled at the euphoric feeling swept over her. He gently stroked her back and listened to the sounds of the leaves rustling in the wind.

"Funny." She said with a sigh. "I never thought I'd be in this…position again." She said looking up at him with a smile.

"It was…different this time than it was the last time, huh?" he said remembering the first time they had both lost their virginity.

"We were are older now." She said a smile crept onto her lips. "And you've slept with every girl at school."

"Not every girl." He shrugged. "Just a lot of them."

"Ew!" She cringed and he chuckled. She rolled over and looked at him. Her long black hair fell over her face and she had to hold it back to keep it out of the way. He loved the way she looked at that moment. Happy and carefree with crazy sex hair. "Uh…I'm not going to catch anything am I? Because that's totally gross!" She said in her valley girl impression. She laughed and he pulled her onto his chest tightly.

"Very funny, Susannah. I forgot that you had a sense of humor." She smiled down at him and he lifted his head and kissed her. She pulled back, after lingering a moment and studied his face for the second time that night.

"Very different." She said with a sigh and he wondered if that was good or bad.

"We were really young." He defended.

"And I was an emotional wreck. You really took advantage of my emotional state." She said with a smile, as she bit her bottom lip.

"Me? You practically jumped me before I even got into the tree house." He teased as he tickled her side and she squealed and pulled away. She laughed as she sat back against the wall and then she went silent.

"So…what now?" She asked and he sighed. Always with the "what now's?" Why couldn't girls just live in the moment instead of worrying about what was to come in the future.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean…everything goes back to normal, right?" She said turning away from him. He got a flashback of that first night they had been together. She had don't exactly the same thing, pushed him away and pretended that nothing had happened.

"Suze…"He reached out to touch her arm, but she moved it away. "Is that what you want? To go back to _normal_?" He asked.

"I think…that it's best." She whispered and he sighed with frustration.

"Fine!" He grabbed his pants and pulled them on. "I can deal with that. But I'd like to point out that it's you who is turning me down and pushing me away." He said, meeting her eyes.

"Jesse, I'm sorry." She said with a sigh. "I just don't see how-" he held up a hand and she stopped speaking.

"Don't! You know every girl I have ever been out with has never been good enough. There's always something wrong with her. I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized it's because I've been waiting for you to wake up and get a fucking clue! But I won't fool myself any longer. Good luck in life Susie. I hope you find someone who is truly worth your time." He snapped up his shirt off the ground and climbed down the tree. She didn't call him back. She didn't make a sound. She just let him go.

When she heard his back door slam closed she let the tears fall. She curled up in a ball and cried. Why didn't he understand? It would never work between them. He was popular and she wasn't. He was from a normal family and she wasn't. She was juts trying to save them the humiliation and the heart ache that would come with being a couple. Why didn't he understand this?

20 minutes later she started climbing down the ladder. She took one last look at the cork board and sighed. She had tacked their drawing of the future on to the board before she had gotten dressed. She sighed and then climbed down, leaving their safe little haven to the real world.


	5. Homecoming

Jesse finally spotted his suitcases coming down the shute. After waiting 35 minutes on top of a 10 hour flight he was exhausted. All he wanted to do was go home and shower. He grabbed his cases as they made their way around the belt and he headed out of the airport. He followed the crowd of people as they went from hallway to hallway. When they came threw the arrival doors they were met with 100 smiling, anticipating faces. It was hard to spot who you were looking for in a crowd of so many. His eyes roamed the crowd and finally made contact with a pair of familiar brown eyes. He smiled when he saw her and headed in her direction. When he reached her she gave him a bright smile and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Hello baby cousin!" He teased and picked her up.

"Wow. You've gotten old on your journeys." She said pointing out his little patches of grey hairs above his ears.

"I haven't been home in a while so there's been some changes." He said with a smile.

"18 years is a long time." She said with a frown. "Not just _a while_" she said mocking him.

"18 years? I've been home since then." He said wrapping an arm around Maria's shoulder and heading off to her car.

"Oh sorry. How could I forget that one time you came home for 2 days!"

"At least I was home."

"Only because…well because she got sick." His smile fell at the mention of his mother and his heart began to swell. He coughed and smiled slightly.

"You know…A business needs someone to run it." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You didn't even introduce us to your wife." She said.

"Which one?" He laughed but felt uncomfortable at the same time. She shot him a look from the corner of her eye that she said didn't approve of his three marriages, his last one ending only 3 months ago.

"So…how's Diego?" he asked, clearly changing the subject.

"Oh, he's ok. He's been getting into trouble at school lately." She said with a frustrated mother's sigh.

"How old is he again?"

"15." Jesse shook his head.

"I guess I need to start coming home more often." He said.

"He's looking forward to seeing you. After you're mom…died….well he's taken it pretty hard. It'll be good that you're home." She unlocked her little red punch buggy and he smirked.

"Nice car."

"Hey don't be "hating" the bug, as Diego would say. Do you know that they call him D at school? I didn't go through 10 hours of labour to have my son be called D." Maria tutted as she started the car and Jesse chuckled.

"You sounded just like her."

"Well went you live with someone for your entire life you tend to be like them."

"You still live at home then?"

"No. I moved in with my boyfriend 6 months ago." She said with a smile. "You'll like him. He's very funny."

"Funny I remember you saying the same thing about Diego's father too." Jesse said and Maria frowned.

"Dominic is different." She said focusing on merging with the highway traffic.

"How so?" Jesse asked.

"Well…he's older and he's funny."

"You said that already."

"He goes to church, I didn't say that yet." Jesse stared at her like she had 3 heads.

"What? Did I just hear you say you go to church? Every Sunday?" He asked.

"I said he goes to church every Sunday." Jesse chuckled.

"I can only imagine how Diego would react to you asking him to go to church on Sunday morning. "So if you live with this…"

"Dominic."

"Dominic guy…who's taking care of dad?" He watched her face go from pink and happy to colorless and thoughtful. He knew before she even spoke who it was. "Huh, so she still lives next door then?"

"Yes. She inherited the house when her mother died. That and a little bit of an extra profit." She smiled and looked at him through the corner of her eye.

"Is she married?"

"Why thinking about making her wifey number 6?" she teased.

"No, she'd be wifey number 4." He smirked. "I just want to know." She smiled and raised her eyebrows.

"No she has never married and I don't think she's about too."

"Huh…She lives in that big house by herself?"

"Yea she shares it with her brother and…" Her face changed and she shrugged. "They've got a dog."

"She hates dogs."

"Hated I think is the term your looking for. She's different than she used to be in high school. Happier." Maria said and Jesse nodded. He was glad that she was happy but he had hoped that she would've been a little bit unhappy without him. But here she was rich and happy but herself with a dog! He sighed deeply.

"Let's change the subject." Maria said trying to lift his spirits.

"Ok." He smiled slightly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Tell me about you wives. In order please." She said with a smirk.

"You don't want to here that story!" He said with a chuckle.

"No I do. Come on spill it!" He sighed and rested his head against the seat.

"Alright. Isobella was my first wife and I met her while I was traveling through Italy. Her family owns a ranch in the country and they are famous for their wine and cheese, believe it or not."

"Oh very "_A Walk in the Clouds_". Nice touch." Maria said and he smirked.

"Wasn't the girl Greek in that movie?" He asked,

"Yea and pregnant too, but those are just minor details. Go on." He chuckled.

"Well her family did inspire me to start my own wine brewery. So I started my own business. Which I managed to do because we got divorced and I received a large sum of her inheritance." Maria shook her head. "What? It's not like it ended on bad terms. We just grew apart. I still email her occasionally. She's married again and has two babies."

"Uhuh…go on. Wifey number 2."

"Well before her I traveled to Spain. I stayed with Abuela Maria for 6 months. Then I found a big chunk of land and bought it. I started planting the crops and built the house. I met Jacqlynn while me house was being built. I hired her father to design and build my house for me, which is beautiful by the way. You would love it! It has fantastic views and huge bay windows, high ceilings and-"

"Hold on. How old was she?" Maria asked.

"Why does that matter?"

"You hired her father, which means he was young enough to still work, which means that she must've been really young." Maria concluded.

"She was 21, when we married." She gasped.

"She was practically a baby!" He shook his head.

"She was no baby! Besides I wasn't that much older than her."

"How old?" Maria looked at him briefly and he coughed and then smiled.

"28." He mumbled.

"28! My goodness. She's just a child."

"That was years ago Maria."

"Why did you spilt up?"

"Same reason why I left Isobella…"

"Don't say money or I'll kill you myself."

"No it wasn't money." He rolled his eyes. "They were…well it was difference of personality and goals in life, different goal what we never shared."

"As in…?"

"Well…with Isobella, she wanted to settle down but I wasn't done traveling yet. I had already spent 3 years in Italy, because we got married. I didn't want to stay in Italy forever."

"Selfish." Maria mumbled and Jesse smirked.

"Yes maybe…I was young then."

"And the other one? Jac something?"

"Jacqlynn? She wanted kids and I didn't." Maria sighed. "Alright, tell me about the last one. I've prepared myself."

"Lilly-Anne?" She looked at him with her eyes wide and he smiled.

"Her name was…" Maria shook her head. "I've changed my mind. I don't want to know."

"Yes you do. She was from Britain. I had met her while I traveled through there. We had a fling while I was there, but it never went anywhere. Then one day she shows up at my doorstep and we got to talking. One thing led to another and two months later she back at my door telling me that she was carrying my child."

"I never knew you-You never said anything!"

"Let me finish." She sighed and slowed down on the off ramp. They were about 10 minutes from the house. "The respectable thing to do was marry her, so I did. By this point I was 34 and ready for that kind of life. I was excited for that baby, although its mother, at times, I could hardly stand to look at let alone sleep in the same bed as her. I wanted that baby and would put of with Lilly's selfish needy ways. I can still remember sitting with her 14 hours of labour and when I looked at that baby I knew. He was paler than she was and he had bright red hair. You think one of my kids will have red hair?" He asked her and she shrugged.

"You never know."

"No…it's not possible. She begged me to make it work and that it was a mistake, but every time I looked at him I felt disappointment. I gave her a large sum of money, we signed the divorce papers and she left with the baby. She took the money along with my ambition to get married again and to have children." They pulled into the driveway of the old house and Maria sighed.

"I almost feel bad for you." She said with a mischievous smile and he rolled his eyes. They were never good at the mushy stuff. She chuckled and got out of the car. "Come on let's get your stuff inside."

As he got out of the car a bright red 2011 Ford Mustang pulled into the driveway next door. A man got out of the car and said something to the blonde girl in the passenger seat. He wore a dark blue baseball cap and a white t-shirt with brown boat shorts and flip-flops. He raced up to the house and flung open the door, disappearing into the house.

"Who was that?" Jesse asked, turning to Maria. She turned away from him and focused on getting his heavy suitcase into the house. "Maria?"

"Huh?" She looked up and then over at the house. "I don't see anybody." She said with a shrug and quickly walked into the house. He sighed and looked over at the car still running in the driveway. It was a nice car; expensive; something that he could see himself driving. He shook his head as he grabbed his last bag and shut the trunk.

"Uncle J!" Diego said from the top of the stairs. He was a tall kid for 15 and thick skinned. His hair was dark and curly, like Maria's, but his skin was light and his eye were blue. He had a mouthful of braces and enough confidence to show them off in a huge grin.

"D!" Jesse said and Maria shot him a glare as she carried his bag upstairs. Jesse wrapped his arms around the teen and smiled up at her.

"Oh you heard about that, huh?" Diego smiled as he stepped back. "She tends to get touchy about the smallest stuff."

"She's always been like that."

"I can still here you!" Her voice drifted down the stairs.

"Here I'll take your bag upstairs for you." Diego said with a smile and lifted the bag as if it were empty. Jesse smiled. There was a time when he would've been able to do that, but with his lack of exercise and his new obsession with Cool Ranch Doritos, he could no longer do that without breathing heavy.

"Hector?" Jesse's real name was called from the living room. He smiled as headed in that general direction. His father sat in front of the window, the sun beaming through the window and lighting up his face. His wrinkled dark skin looked smooth and soft and his faded blue eyes were glossy. He wore a green sweater and sat with a blanket over his lap as if it were the middle of January, rather than the beginning of July.

"Hi dad." Jesse said walking to his father's chair. He knelt down beside the chair and grabbed his father's hand. His eye's flicked to Jesse's general direction but did not see. They hadn't seen anything for over 10 years and Jesse was still getting used to the idea of his father being blind.

"Good to see you son." He said with a wheezy chuckle. Jesse smiled at his father's sense of humor and patted his hand.

"You too dad."

"You've got grey hair!" His father said with a satisfactory smile.

"How…How'd you know?" Jesse asked stunned.

"I don't. I just guessed." His father laughed. "At your age ¾ of my hair was grey. Most of that was your doing."

"Well someone had to keep you on your toes. Mom coddled you too much." His father laughed and looked out the window, lifting his face towards the sun.

"Beautiful day huh?" Jesse nodded and the realized that his father couldn't see him nod.

"Yes, beautiful."

"You're mother would've been out tending her roses. Even if she had just come home from Chemotherapy she would tend to those flowers." He said with a fond smile. "Of course it wouldn't last very long before she had to come inside and lie down. Stubborn, that's what she was." Jesse's throat tightened at the fond words about his mother. He could picture her in her white rain boots and overalls, humming away as she tended to the flowers. "She loved those roses." His father sighed and rested his head against the seat. Jesse stared as he spotted a single tear roll down his cheek.

"Son?"

"Ci Papi?"

"You'll make sure that you take care of the roses, wont you?" He asked and Jesse nodded again. "I'll take your silence for a yes." Jesse laughed.

"Ci papi, of course."

"Max'll do that, Abuelo." Diego said interrupting them. Jesse looked up confused.

"Max? Who's Max?"

"He li-"

"Aunt Ella hired him to tend to the lawn and garden when she wasn't feeling up to it." Maria said cutting off Diego.

"I can do it." Jesse said and both Maria and Diego gave him a skeptical look. "What? I can!"

` "Not the way that Aunt Ella did." Maria said with a shrug. She sat in an arm chair across from them and opened a novel next to the chair.

"Yea, Aunt Ella spent hours showing Max how to cut the flowers perfectly." Diego said, leaning against the arm chair.

"Why didn't she show you?" Jesse asked him and Diego flinched. "Why'd she have to hire him?"

"He didn't have the patience to learn." His father smiled.

"But Max said he'll teach me." Diego said staring at his socked feet.

"He will Diego, be patient." Maria said. "He's taken her death just as hard as the rest of us have."

"Ya well, he hasn't been here in 6 days. The roses are going to die if he doesn't take care of them."

"Hector?" Jesse's father said with a sigh.

"Yes?"  
"You go and check on them." He said patting his son's hand.

"Now papi?

"Ci."

"Do you know how to cut them?" Diego asked skeptically and Jesse shrugged.

"Mom showed me once or twice."

"But he didn't have the patience either." Jesse's father laughed and Diego looked triumphant. "Please son?"

"Ok Papi. I'll go."

Jesse grabbed the garden scissors from the kitchen and headed out to the front yard. The roses did need to be trimmed but they weren't hurting that much. They were beautiful blooming red and white roses. Jesse sighed and knelt down in front of a red rose bush and started cutting.

10 minutes later her heard someone shout "Hey! Get away from there!" from behind him. Startled Jesse stood up and backed away from the flowers as the man wearing the blue baseball cap marched towards him. As he got closer, Jesse noticed that he was just a kid, maybe 17 or 18.

"I'm guessing that you're Max?" Jesse said with a smirk.

"Fucking right! Now what the hell are you doing to those flowers? Look you butchered them." Max bent down and inspected the flowers.

"I did not butcher them! I cut them the way my mother would have." Jesse watched with satisfaction as the boy froze. Max sighed and stood up.

"Sorry man. No disrespect. This was just…our thing. Mine and Ella's I mean." He said staring at the flowers with such sadness. He was just a bit shorter than Jesse and his face was smooth and pimple free.

"You're a bit young for her, aren't you?" Jesse asked. To his surprise Max laughed. There was something familiar about that smile.

"No, it wasn't like that. She was like a grandmother to me." His eyes met Jesse's and Jesse had the weird sensation that he was staring into a mirror.

"Huh…" Jesse said, squinting his eyes at the boy.

"I can finish them for you if you want." Max held out his hands for the scissors. Jesse coughed and handed them over.

"Mind if I watch you? So that I don't _butcher_ them next time." Max smirked up at him.

"Sorry about that. I don't mind if you watch." Jesse nodded and leaned against the stair railing and studied the boy as he cut the flowers.

"So…how old are you?" Jesse asked.

"18."

"You like sports?"

"Who doesn't?" Max said with a smile.

"What's your favorite sport?"

"Well I like to play soccer, but footballs more my thing."

"When's your birthday?" Max looked up at him confused.

"What is this? 20 questions?"

"Sorry, I was just curious." Max studied Jesse's face and then turned back to the rose bush.

"Well…just curious, but how old are you?"

"36. My birthday's February 23." Max smirked and Jesse smiled back. At that moment a black Maybach 57 pulled into the driveway next door. It quietly turned off and slowly Suze got out of the car. She hadn't changed that much since high school. Her hair was cut in a bob and she was still stick thin. Her hips might've been wider and her breast larger, but that came with age. She wore a black turtleneck shirt, with short sleeves and grey dress pants, which to Jesse's unfortunate approval, made her butt look really good. She wore a pair of large dark sunglasses, but he didn't need to see her eyes to know that she had spotted him. She froze as she draped her large Louis Vuitton bag on her arm and carried a sleek black briefcase in the other. Her lips made a straight line as she pressed them together nervously. He smiled at her and she looked down at the keys in her hands, locked the car and headed up to the house.

As she reached the steps Max stood up, spotted her and shouted "Hey Mom!" Jesse looked back at him then towards Suze and watched her drop her bag on the porch. She might as well have opened her mouth in a gaping manor. She stared at them behind her sunglasses and Jesse could almost see the nervous sweat forming on her brow.

"She's your mom?" Jesse asked him in a low tone.

"No I just call random people Mom for fun." Max said sarcastically and Jesse smirked. He sounded just like her when he talked. "Don't get any funny ideas either!" Max said with a warning as he handed Jesse the scissors and headed for his house.

"Funny. Listen…want to come over tomorrow and show me how to cut the roses again?" Max looked at his mother still standing watching them.

"Sure. Is 10 ok?"

"In the morning?" Jesse asked shocked that a boy of his age got up before 12.

"Yea. I normally take the dog for a run around 7:30." Max said with a shrug.

"Huh…Can I join you?" It was Max's turn to look surprised. A smooth smile slid over his face.

"Think you can keep up?" Jesse smirked at the boy.

"I think I'll manage." Max sized him up.

"Even size 6, marathon runner up there cant keep up with me." Max said pointing over his shoulder at his mother.

"She runs marathons?" Jesse asked amazed.

"Sometimes." Max said smiling at her. "So, you sure you want to do this?"

"7:30." Jesse said and held out his hand.

"7:30!" Max said shaking his hand.

"I'm Jesse De Sliva by the way."

"I know. I've heard all about you." He said and then ran up his driveway, kissed his mother's cheek and disappeared inside. She looked at Jesse with an expression that he couldn't place. He watched as she sighed, shook her head and then went inside.


	6. Revelation

"Mom the potatoes are boiling." Max said, causing Suze to jump. The water was bubbling over the side of the pot and Suze quickly turned the temperature down and took the lid off the pot. She smiled at Max, who was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper. When he smiled back and shook his head she felt that all too familiar pain in her heart.

"So…" She said not knowing how to ask him directly.

"So…" He repeated.

"How was your day?" She asked checking the chicken in the oven, before she sat in front of him at the table. He shrugged.

"Normal, I guess. Gina and I went to the lake and then we got ice cream. She tried to make it fun, but nothing helps Mom." He said rubbing his face, a motion that he did to stop his tears.

"Honey, it's ok." Suze reached across the table and patted his arm.

"Trimming the roses helped a bit. Partly because Ella's son was there to talk to me." Suze sighed and tried to act normal. "He's a nice guy."

"Oh yea?" She said pretending that she didn't know. He looked at her inquisitively.

"You guys were friends weren't you?" he asked for the millionth time. As a child he was fascinated by their relationship. The day that Ella had introduced Max to the tree house was the day that he started asking about his dad and what Suze's childhood had been like. He would ask all sorts of questions that Suze found difficult to say but loved to remember.

"Yes, you know that Max." She said getting up and checking the chicken again.

"Well, if you were friends why didn't you speak to him? Or at least wave?" he asked and Suze sighed.

"You know you still ask too many questions as you used to."

"And you still avoid them." He smiled at her and she shook her head.

"We haven't been friends since we were little. We just grew apart." She shrugged and he nodded as if he understood. The phone rang and Max got up to answer it. She heard him talking and then he laughed.

"Hold on, I'll get her. Mom!" He called from the hallway. "It's Aunt Ceecee." He said sticking his head through the door. She nodded, wiped her hands on a clean t-towel and took the phone from him.

"Hello?"  
"It happened!" Ceecee exclaimed at the sound of Suze's voice.

"You know I had the strangest flashback to when you called me when you were in college. You were so excited that you had gotten you're period because you thought you were pregnant. I think you used those exact words." Suze chuckled.

"Huh, I remember that!"

"How could you forget? I think it was the quote "worst day of your life"."

"Oh haha. Anyways…He asked me. He finally asked me to marry him."

"Wow. I never thought he had it in him." Suze smiled. "You didn't beg him did you?"

"I beg your-no I didn't beg him!" Ceecee chuckled. "Imagine?"

"Congrats Cee! When is it?"

"I don't know yet. We haven't gotten that far yet, But you'll be my maid of honor, wont you?"

"Of course."

"Gina's going to be my other bride's maid. It's just going to be a small wedding. No more that 150 people."

"Man if I were to get married it would be in city hall and have a barbeque after!" Suze said with a chuckle.

"We'll see. Anyways I better go. Their all hungry here." Ceecee sighed.

"I'm so happy for you Cee. Kiss Adam for me."

"Ok, thanks. Let's got for a coffee tomorrow. We can start looking for wedding dresses."

"Uh, ok. How about 10:30."

"Perfect. See you then." Suze hung up the phone and smiled as she thought about her friend. She had started dating Adam after the 10 year reunion. Adam had grown up a lot since high school. In his first year of college, his girlfriend, at the time, got pregnant and he dropped out and went to work at his father's hardware store to help raise her. Gina was 7 when Ceecee and Adam started dating and Suze could remember how cold she had been towards Ceecee. But when Max started to come around for play dates, Gina and Max became really close and Gina warmed to Ceecee. They had lived as a happy little family for 6 years before now; before Adam decided that he wanted to marry her. Those two were clearly meant to be together.

"Mom. Potatoes again!" Max called from the kitchen.

"Well, you're old enough aren't you?"

"I…I gotta let the dog in!" He said getting up from the table and opening the white French doors that led to outside. "Come on Sheba!" He called the dog inside. A big hairy sheepdog came bolting into the kitchen, dropping bits of freshly cut grass and dirt all around the kitchen.

"Max!" Suze said sternly, as the dog jumped up on her and licked at her face.

"Sheba! Come!" Max shouted looking at his mother's distressed face. The dogs ears dropped and she sulked over to Max's side. "Sorry Mom. I'll clean it up." She sighed and turned back to the stove.

"Ceecee and Adam are getting married."

"I know."

"What?" She turned to him, watching him wipe the dog's paws with an old towel.

"Gina told me. He had planned it for sometime." He said.

"You knew all along and didn't tell me? You're poor old mother?" He laughed.

"You would've blabbed."

"Ugh! I would not!" But as she said it a smile slid over her face and she knew that he was right. She couldn't keep secrets. Well she couldn't keep most secrets. "Still you shouldn't keep secrets from me."

"Oh Mom!" He rolled his eyes and scratched behind the dog's ears. Suze watched as he stared fondly down at the dog and remembered when she had brought her home as a birthday gift when he was 14. He had been ecstatic and to this day it was the best birthday present she had ever given him. She still hated the smell of dogs and freaked every time that Sheba barked, but the dog had grown on her and she couldn't picture their life without her.

The timer on the stove ringed and Suze took the chicken out of the oven. She made up two plates of chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy and some peas. She handed him his plate and the two of them sat down to dinner and a quiet night.

The next morning Suze awoke to Max's usual bustling in the bathroom. She heard him whispering away to the dog and waited for the soft knock on her door.

"Mom?" She quickly shut her eyes and pretended to be sleeping as Max opened the door and peeked his head in her room. "Mom?"

"Mmhmmm?" She mumbled, and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm going out now."

"Ok honey." She yawned and turned onto her stomach. "Be careful."

"Ok, see you later." She waited until she heard the front door close before she bolted to her bedroom window, peeked open the blinds and looked down at the driveway.

Sure enough Jesse was sitting on his porch steps waiting. His brown hair was crazy, as it used to be when he was a kid, and he wore a tight white t-shirt with black jogging pants. He looked up at her and waved. She jumped and let the blinds close.

She could hear faint voices and waited for them to drift away before she opened the blinds again. She watched as they stretched and Sheba trotted around them happily. Then they took off down the road and Suze could no longer see them.

She sighed and climbed back into bed to try and get a couple more hours of sleep. But she was restless and tossed and turned for half an hour before she finally gave up. She got out of bed and showered. She dressed slowly, trying on three outfits before settling on tight dark blue jeans, a black tank top and white see through t-shirt. When she was completely finished getting ready it was opened her blinds, made her bed, put away her laundry that was in neat piles on her dresser and even vacuumed her room.

At 9:45 the boys finished their run. Suze was in the kitchen rearranging things in her wallet when the front door opened.

"How was your run?" She asked over her shoulder.

"It was good." He answered grabbing a cup from the cupboard. "I'm surprised that you could actually keep up."

"I know, you've told me 3 times now." She froze at the sound of his voice and stared at the white tiled wall in front of her. She took a deep breath and turned around. Max was leaning on the counter, drinking a cold glass of water. Jesse stood directly in front of her smiling. She studied his face and noticed that he had tiny wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and patches of grey at the sides of his head. He still had the same smile and bright green eyes that made her stomach fill with butterflies. He was sweaty and smelled just as bad as Max, but she had the sudden urge to grab his smug face and kiss him. She felt her face redden and looked away, before she looked back.

"Uh…Hi." She said.

"Hello." His voice was sexier now that he was older. She felt her knees shake and told herself to get a grip.

"I invited him in for a drink." Max explained. Suze nodded and noticed that Jesse's hands were empty.

"I'm sorry. It seems my son has forgotten his manners." She said motioning to Jesse. He looked at her confused and then noticed that Jesse didn't have a drink.

"Oh Sorry man! I didn't get you a drink yet." He grabbed a glass from the cupboard beside Suze. "Water ok?"

"Yea sure." His eyes never left hers. Max poured Jesse a glass and handed it to him.

"So, when did you arrive?" She asked, avoiding direct eye contact.

"Yesterday." He said with the slightest smile. He knew! And he was enjoying the fact that she was very uncomfortable. She could handle him knowing but did Max know? Her eyes flicked to Max and he smiled at her playfully. He raised his eyebrows suggestively and then glanced at Jesse. He was trying to set her up with Jesse and she bit her tongue to stop herself from saying anything. Jesse coughed and Suze shook her head.

"I, uh…just remembered I gotta go call Gina." Max said, putting his glass in the sink.

"You still up for trimming the roses?" Jesse asked as Max passed him.

"Yea, of course. I'll call Gina quickly, shower and be at your house by 11."

"Sounds good." Jesse said smiling at Max and then turned back to Suze. Max smiled at his mother boldly and disappeared up the stairs. Suze sighed. "It appears that he wants us to get together."

"Yes sorry. He does that occasionally." She shrugged.

"Why?"  
"Because he doesn't like the fact that I'm alone. And he's a little meddler!" She said a little louder, knowing that Max was sitting on the stairs listening to every word. "I know you're still there." She called. "If you wanted to listen to the conversation you shouldn't have left the kitchen." There was nothing but silence for a moment and then Max let out a sigh.

"Alright, I'm going!" He huffed and ran up the stairs. She folded her arms and smiled smugly.

"Huh, mothering talents look good on you." He said with a smile and she chuckled.

"Thanks." She felt her face start to heat up and turned back to her wallet. "So, you missed the funeral." She said. He was quiet for a second and then he sighed.

"I…it took me a while to get things prepared in my business."

"Prepared for what?"

"Well, for my absence. I need to get things in order while I was going to stay here." Suze nodded.

"Ella told me about it. Wine right?" She turned and looked at him and he blinked, losing the conversation.

"Why didn't you tell me?" A flash of hurt crossed his face. She shrugged and rubbed her arms uneasily.

"You were…gone."

"You must've known before I left." He moved closer. "Actually I remember telling you that I was leaving a week before I left. You could've told me then."

"I was going to. That's why I stopped…to talk to you." She watched a mixture of emotions pass over his face. He shook his head and looked out the window.

"Why Suze?"

"Well you were still mad at me, and you were excited to get away and start your own life." She said remembering that those were the words that had made the decision whether to tell him or not. She sighed. "I thought…I just thought that he, well we would hold you back from every-" just then the phone rang and Suze jumped. They waited for Max to answer but he didn't, so Suze sighed and went to get it.

"Hello?"

"Suze? Where are you?" Ceecee's voice pulled her away from her thoughts about Jesse.

"Shoot! I'm on my way."

"What is it? You're always the first one here."

"I'll tell you about it when I get there." Suze mumbled and then hung up. She went back into the kitchen. Jesse was standing, facing the window. He breathed heavily and studied the backyard. Suze watched him for a second before she spoke. "I, um, have to go." He turned to her and she noticed that he looked upset. "I promised Ceecee that I would meet her this morning. She's getting married. To Adam actually." She said with a smile, which he did not return.

"Ok." He shrugged.

"Jess, I didn't…do it intentionally."

"I never thought you did." He shrugged again. "I better head out." He said looking at her, a look she had seen before. She struggled to remember where she had seen it and then she remembered. This was the same look that he had given her in the tree house when he had waited for her to stop him, to say something to change things around. He sighed with frustration and she put her wallet in her purse, avoiding his gaze.

"See you." He said and with that he left the kitchen and went out her house, gently closing the door behind him. She sighed and looked over at the spot where he had just been standing. She shook her head. Then she grabbed her purse and went to meet Ceecee.

"I can't believe it." She said excitedly. "I mean I always thought that he would know. I mean come on! Max is like his twin."

"Well his twin 18 years ago, maybe."

"So he's changed that much? I bet he's hotter now!" Ceecee said, leaning on her elbows and smiling brightly at Suze. Suze couldn't help but smile back and shrugged.

"He's tanned, more tanned than he used to be. And his face has more character now, but that's not the point." She shook those thoughts out of her head. She sipped her black coffee and sighed.

"Was he mad?" Ceecee asked, brushing her long blonde hair over her shoulder and her green contact covered eyes twinkled with concern.

"I don't think he was mad, well not about keeping Max a secret. He was more…upset."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"No…ok fine he looked sad!" Ceecee nodded.

"That's because he missed his son's childhood." Ceecee informed her.

"I know that, thanks. But it's not just my fault. I mean, Ella knew. She could've told him. Hell even Maria knew! I thought for sure she had told him!" Ceecee nodded.

"Yea, I remember talking about it with you. But still, it wasn't their job to inform him. If you wanted to tell him you would've. They were just respecting the choice that you made." Suze sighed, knowing that Ceecee was right. "If you didn't want him to know then you should just admit it."

"I just didn't want to get in his way. I mean I ruined his life before, I wasn't about to do it again."

"Sometimes I wonder where you get your reasons from. You ruined his life? As I remember it he was extremely popular in high school, the Prom King and valedictorian. Then he went off to Yale and onto traveling the globe, only to end up in Spain, rich with his own business."

"Plus 3 failed marriages."

"That's not your fault."

"Remember what he told me? That he always found something wrong with the other girls?"

"Oh Suze. He was just using that to prove a point."

"Yes, well it did." Ceecee sighed.

"Well, maybe if you had moved on and gotten married things would be different for him." Ceecee said brightly.

"Married? Ha!" Suze laughed. "To whom? Michael? I don't think so."

"Why not? He was there all throughout your pregnancy and he's always been there for you and Max. Plus he's asked you twice now."

"Still…"

"Suze, honey. We're not getting any younger. We'll be 40 soon."

"In 4 years!"

"Soon! We need to give up this luxurious life of parties and staying out till dawn and start settling down, starting families." Ceecee said with an amused smile and Suze chuckled.

"I think I've accomplished the family thing and I don't recall ever staying out till dawn." Ceecee smiled.

"Well you have a son, that's only one part of a family. And poor little Max needs a daddy!" Suze stared at her friend as Ceecee giggled.

"I think he'll be fine."

"Well you have to at least bring a date to my wedding. And Max has his own invitation." Ceecee said before Suze could speak.

"Did you pick a date yet?"  
"We're thinking around Christmas time."

"Ok. So I should start planning the parties and such." Suze took out her blackberry and looked at the calendar.

"Engagement party is first." Ceecee said looking over the top of the blackberry to try and see the screen.

"Excuse me! But everything is going to be kept out of your knowledge. Let me and Gina handle it." Suze said with a triumphant smile.

"Well as long as it's amazing, then I'm fine." Ceecee said smiling as she folded her arms.

"Oh Ceecee."


	7. Disaster Strikes

"Here's some lemonade boys." Maria said carrying out 2 glasses of ice cold lemonade. They had been working for almost an hour and it was the hottest day of the summer, so far. Suze had arrived half an hour earlier and gone into the house without speaking to them.

"Thanks." Jesse said as he took the glass from Maria. He went and sat on the matching white wooden chairs on the porch. His mother had made dark blue pillows that matched the shutters on the white house. He sank into the chair and took a gulp of his drink and sighed.

"Man that's good!" Max said from the other chair.

She does a good job, always has when it come to lemonade."

"Mom always puts too much lemon, not enough sugar." He ran his hand through his hair making it stand up and then put his baseball cap back on. "She's an amazing cook though. She just, for some weird reason, sucks at making lemonade." Max shrugged and Jesse chuckled.

"She wanted to be a chef when we were kids. I bought her first cook book for her 12th birthday and then she went cook book crazy. The tree house used to be full of them." Jesse sighed and Max studied his glass. "It's crazy how long ago that seems. What does she do now?"

"She owns the little Italian restaurant downtown. It's called Simons." Max said proudly.

"No way! That's pretty…impressive."

"It's pretty popular."

"That must mean the foods good." Jesse said smiling.

"Well the place makes over $2000 on slow nights, so its doing pretty good." Max shrugged.

"That's amazing for a small town like this." Jesse said looking around and Max nodded.

"Yea but it sucks. Sometimes she makes me work there when their short staffed."

"You get paid right?"

"Yea, I guess I shouldn't complain." Max shrugged and smiled at Jesse.

"Especially since that place might be yours one day." Max nodded and took another drink of his lemonade. He sighed and Jesse watched as his green eyes flicked across to his house.

"So you and your mom are close?"

"Really close. We're closer than any other kid and their parent. But she never talks about her childhood. Ok, well she'll talk about her life before her dad died, but not after it." Max said and Jesse nodded.

"She took it really hard. They all did." Jesse explained. "But she seems ok now."

"She still keeps a lot of that stuff to herself. That's why I…invited you in. I wanted her to talk to someone, other than Aunt Ceecee. Someone who knows her better." Max said his eyes studying Jesse's. Jesse pursed his lips and studied Max. "Sorry." Max said with a shrug and Jesse smiled, shaking his head.

"I guess I would do the same if I was in your position." Jesse sighed. He was about to ask if she had dated anyone, and was trying to figure out how to word it without showing his feelings, when a white 2010 Alfa Romeo Giulietta pulled into Suze's driveway. The windows were tinted so the driver was not seen, but Jesse knew that he was being watched. "Who's that?" He asked turning to Max.

"That's Mike."

"Mike? As in Mike Meducci?" Jesse asked looking back at the car.

"Yea. He's pretty hung up on Mom." Max said raising his eyebrows in distaste as he studied the remaining quarter of his drink.

"You don't like him." Jesse stated and Max shrugged.

"He's not a bad guy. He's there for mom when she's needed it, attended all of my birthday parties and family functions."

"But?"

"But he's just… I don't know there's something about him. I'll catch his watching me sometimes and the look on his face…It's hard to explain. He just creeps me out." Max sighed and they looked over at the car.

"Nice car."

"Yea he's some big time Lawyer in town." Max said. "He's got a penthouse apartment and all that."

"Huh." Jesse said, remembering Mike in high school, he never seemed like he'd be the kind of guy to live the big spender life style. Mike opened his door. Jesse studied the tall, now muscular man getting out of the car. His black hair was cut short and neat and he no longer wore glasses. He wore, what looked like an expensive Armani suit and he walked with more confidence. He looked over at them and waved, giving them a bright smile as he skipped up the steps and into the house.

"I used to think he was my dad." Max mumbled and Jesse laughed.

"You look nothing like him."

"I know that now! I didn't say I think he's my dad." Max shook his head, yet smiled. "When you're 6 you don't really notice things like, skin tones and eye colour." Max said his eyes studying Jesse carefully and Jesse nodded and looked away. Jesse felt his heart beat quicken as he realized that Max might already know.

"So, what was you're dad like?"

"No idea." Max sighed and rested his head back on the chair.

"She never, uh, told you who he is?" Jesse asked.

"She never gave me a name. She just told me that he was a friend from high school."

"Huh."

"I know, she didn't exactly have a lot of friends from high school, or so I've heard." Max said. "The story is that basically it was too much for him to handle at such a "young age". So he took off." Max said bitterly.

"She told you that?"

"No, but look at it from my perspective. The guys AWAL, has been my whole life. Too much of a coward to man up." Max snapped. Jesse bit his tongue and stopped himself from speaking. He wanted to defend himself but it was clear that this was a touchy subject for Max. "It's not like I need him anymore anyways. Uncle Dave helped a lot with the guy stuff."

"But if he…if he were to turn up?" Jesse asked and Max shrugged.

"It wouldn't really matter. Besides it's girls who have a harder time when their father's abandon them. Or so I've heard." Max said.

"Huh. I was always a Momma's boy myself." Jesse teased, purposely changing the mood, and Max smiled.

"I never said that I was a-"

"I'm sorry Mike, but I'm really busy this week." Suze's voice came from her front door. She was digging through her purse looking for something.

"It's because _he's_ here isn't it?" Mike's deep voice floated over to them and Max snorted.

"No! What? Listen." Her voice faded as she spoke to Mike in a lower tone, so that they couldn't here. Jesse watched Mike studied Suze's face with a hard, pained expression.

"Look's like your presence upsets him." Max said smugly.

"Really? I thought he meant because you were here!" Jesse teased and Max chuckled.

"What about 8:30?" Mike said, obviously choosing to ignore the fact that she said no. Suze sighed and turned away from him.

"I can't Mike. I have to pick up David for the airport. Tonight's no good. I'm sorry." She opened her car door.

"But your busy all week, and I leave tomorrow for California." Mike pleaded.

"I'm sorry. It's not going to work tonight. I'll call you." She said slipping on her sunglasses. She looked over to Max and Jesse and waved. "I'll be back later. I'm going out with Ceecee." She said to Max.

"Again?" Max laughed.

"She's wants to go dress shopping! Already." Suze shook her head and smiled. "Bye honey." She looked back up at Mike and then sighed before she got into the car. She started it, quickly backed out of the drive way and took off down the road. Mike sighed and rubbed his face.

"Looks like she's too busy there Mikey." Max goaded. Mike looked over at him with a glare and then sighed and gave him a smile and shrug.

"We'll see." He said. He waved at Max and Jesse and then got into his own car and drove away.

"See what I mean?" Max exclaimed. "We'll see." He mimicked and Jesse laughed.

"That was pretty good! You sounded just like him."

"I've had years of practice." Max sighed. "Too many years." Jesse noted the distaste in his voice. Fighting for one woman's attention was hard work and nobody left completely happy. He knew that Suze would pick Max over Mike any day. He just wondered why she hadn't given Mike the boot like she had done to him.

Around 6 o'clock it started to rain and not just a light drizzle, it was a full on downpour. Jesse looked up from his laptop and went to close the window.

"Fuck! Why does this have to happen to me?" He heard Suze's voice shout from below. He opened his blinds and stuck his head out the window. Suze was bending over her car looking at the flat tire that she had. He smiled as she swore some more. He grabbed his rain coat and went down to help her.

"Need help?" He shouted over the rain and causing her to jump. Her black hair was curling around her neck under the hood of her black rain coat. He smiled and she sighed.

"My tire's flat." She sighed. "And I have to pick up David in about 38 minutes." She said studying her watch.

"Don't you have a back up?" Jesse said inspecting the flat.

"No. I used it and it popped. I was supposed to get a new one."

"Seems like it's common for you to get flats." Jesse chuckled and she brushed her bangs back into her hood.

"You have no idea." She sighed shaking her head.

"Where's Max?"  
"He's working at the store. We're short tonight." She said.

"He told me about that." Jesse said and Suze nodded. He looked around for an idea and spotted his mother's red 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt sitting unused in the driveway.

"I guess I could drive you." He said with a shrug.

"I don't want to put you out or anything." She said sourly and he smiled.

"I'll drive you. I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" She eyed his cautiously and he shrugged.

"How else are you going to get there?" He asked and he could see that she was trying to find something to come up with. She sighed and nodded. She walked past him towards his mother's car. He let out a chuckle and followed her.

"I just have to grab the keys." He said running into the house and grabbing the keys from the key rack at the front door. He looked outside and saw her standing on the porch looking helpless. There was something about her expression as she studied the rain falling that made him just want to watch her.

"Get a grip Jess!" He said to himself and she turned towards him.

"Did you say something?" She said as he let the screen door close behind him.

"Nope." He said and unlocked the car. She squinted her eyes at him as he raced by and got into the car. She sighed and then followed him.

10 minutes later they were just a couple of minutes away and neither one of them had spoken a word. Jesse sighed and spotted the airport turn off.

"So you never told him that I was his dad." He said, getting straight to the point.

"That's what you're mood's about." Suze said shaking her head. Her hair was completely curled now, and it bounced against her face. "I was trying to figure out what it was about."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"I didn't see the need too." She said holding her hands tightly in her lap. "The less he knew the fewer questions he would ask. Besides you were gone anyways." Jesse shook his head.

"How'd that work out for you? The less he knew the fewer questions he would ask?"

"He kept asking." She sighed and Jesse smiled.

"I want to tell him." He said slowly.

"Pardon?"  
"Suze…" She sighed and looked out the window.

"You think he doesn't already know? I mean you two look identical. You always have. Even as a kid he looked like you." Jesse pondered this for a moment.

"I still think he should hear it out loud."

"He'll freak out. He's got a short fuse when it comes to that subject." She sighed. "You tell him. I'm not going to be responsible for his bad mood."

"But you are responsible! You're the one who kept us apart. You kept him all to yourself." She looked at him with a shocked expression.

"I didn't keep him all to myself. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to…I did it for your own good!" She said looking back out the window, her hands shaking.

"How would you know what's good for me? You don't know me!" He snapped.

"Fine, then I did it for my son! I did it for him!"

"You mean our son!" He said and her breath caught. "You never gave me the chance." He said in a low tone and she shook her head. Her hand went up to her face quickly and Jesse knew that she was crying.

"I'll just catch a cab back. You don't have to stick around." She snapped.

"Fine!" He grumbled.

As they pulled into the airport they noticed an ambulance that just left and 4 cop cars around it. Neither one could speak as they took in the scene before them, yellow tape, groups of cops and distressed people. Jesse stopped at the curb and put the car in park. He took off his seat belt and her worried face looked at him.

"You don't think…" She said and he shook his head.

"Call him and let him know we're here." Jesse said, looking at the cops. She dug through her purse and fished out her phone. She dialed David's number and got the voicemail.

"No answer?" Jesse asked and she shook her head. She bit her bottom lip nervously and he sighed. "Alright lets go get him then." He opened the car door and the sound of rain and chaos entered the car.

"You don't need to go. I can do this by myself!" She said stubbornly.

"I'm going with you Susannah!" He said and she couldn't argue back.

"Fine! But you'll see that you're wasting your time." She said, sounding entirely insecure.

They got out of the car and raced in through revolving doors. Inside wasn't much different from the outside. It was chaotic and noisy, only dry. They didn't know where to start first. All they could do was watch the numbers of police officers and the people crying and hugging each other. Jesse felt Suze grab his hand nervously and he held it tightly so that he wouldn't lose her in the crowd.

"Can I help you?" They turned around and a woman stood behind them. She was a cop, about 30, stood at 4 ft 3 with honey coloured hair, which she wore in a bun and dark brown eyes. She studied them carefully and Jesse sighed.

"I'm…I'm…" Suze tried to speak but couldn't take her eyes away from the chaos.

"My name is Jesse De Silva. We're looking for her brother. His plane was supposed to land 10 minutes ago." The cop looked around at the people waiting.

"Can you describe him for me?" She asked looking at Suze but Suze couldn't speak.

"His name is David; he's roughly around 28, 29?" Jesse said looking at Suze and she nodded. "He's got red hair, at least he did."

"He still does. And he has a beard." She finally spoke.

"What was his name again?" The cop asked.

"David, David James Simon." Suze said and the cop nodded. She looked around again and sighed.

"I'm Officer Carter." She said offering her hand to them and they shook it. "Would you mind coming with me please?" She said and started walking away. Jesse gave Suze's hand a tight squeeze and they followed the cop.

Officer Carter led the through the crowds to two male cops deep in conversation. They looked up as she approached and Jesse felt a sickening feeling in his stomach. The three of them talked quietly and then the oldest cop sighed. He looked over at Suze's worried face and nodded.

"Mrs. De Silva?" He said as he approached them.

"Uh, no. It's Simon. Susannah Simon." She said nervously.

"Mrs. Simon, my name is Sergeant Dobson. Officer Carter said that you are looking for your brother." He said looking down at them. He was very tall, about 6 ft 5, with bright blue eyes and graying dark brown hair.

"His name is David. He's 28, has red hair, blue eyes-" Suze spoke quickly.

"Is he alright?" Jesse asked, cutting her off before she became hysterical. Sergeant Dobson assessed Susannah's emotional situation and sighed.

"We're afraid, well there was a man murdered in one of the public restrooms."

"Oh no." Jesse heard Susannah whisper.

"And from the description that you gave us…" He paused. "We're afraid that the victim may be your brother."

"Oh no!" Susannah said louder and grabbed Jesse's hand tightly. Fat tears ran down her face. And he pulled her into his arms.

"Suze, he said it may be him. He didn't say that it was him." Jesse said gently into her hair. She stopped sobbing so much and looked at Sergeant Dobson.

"I want to see him."

"Mrs. Simon…" Sergeant Dobson started.

"Well we do need someone to identify the body." The other cop said from behind Sergeant Dobson. He was a short fat man, with a brown mustache and pale blue eyes. Sergeant Dobson and Officer Carter both gave him a cold stare and he backed off.

"I want to see him." Susannah said again. Sergeant Dobson looked at Susannah and then at Officer Carter who nodded her head.

"Well, only if you're sure."

"I am." She said bravely and Jesse felt his stomach tighten.

"Suze, its probably better if I do it." He said making her look up at him.

"I can do this Jesse." She said as she wiped the tears, and smudged make up from under her eyes.

"I know, I know you can, but I…"

"Jess, I need to. He's my brother. I need to see him." She sighed and ran a shaky hand through her hair. "I need to be sure that its him, to see it for myself." Jesse sighed, knowing that he had lost. She looked back over to Sergeant Dobson and Officer Carter.

"Alright, this way ma'am." Officer Carter said, turning to lead Susannah away.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Jesse said, grabbing hold of Susannah's hand. This time she noticed it and looked down at his touch. She looked up at him with confusion and he shrugged.

"Someone's got to be there to tell you I told you so." He said lightly and she let out a shaky breath.

"I hope so." She said back and the two officers started off.

They walked for what seemed like hours and they knew they were getting close because each minute that they walked the environment of the airport changed. At first they passed scared and confused people looking around and wondering what was going on. Then they passed a crying flight attendant talking to a detective, who had a note pad open and was taking notes. When they saw a man sitting in a seat, his face pale and clammy and his entire body shaking they knew that they had arrived. Yellow tape blocked off any entrance to the men's bathroom. There were two young cops, probably rookies, standing guard outside of the bathroom, each one holding an AR-15 rifle and scanning the crowd carefully. They nodded to Sergeant Dobson and lifted the tape. Susannah took a big long nervous breath and looked up at Jesse.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked and she nodded looking back at Sergeant Dobson patiently waiting on the other side of the tape. Jesse gave her hand a tight squeeze and they ducked under the tape and went into the bathroom.

The first thing that Jesse noticed was the smell. It smelt like a regular bathroom, the smell of bleach and soap, mixed with urine. But what also stood out was an iron smell, the smell of blood, a lot of blood. As the bathroom opened up to them, Jesse looked around and felt his stomach churn at the sight of the blood. There was splatter all over the wall and the counters. The mirrors had drops of blood on them, already starting to dry. In the middle of the bathroom floor was where the body laid, covered by a white blanket, and surrounded by a pool of dark red blood. Susannah's hand tightened as they moved closer. Jesse became aware of two other people in the room. One, a man, was holding a camera and taking pictures of the blood spatter on the walls. The other, a woman was collecting some sort of evidence off the sinks with a pair of tweezers. Both of them looked towards Susannah with pity in their eyes.

"Aren't we supposed to do this another way? Like at a time where there isn't so much…raw evidence." Jesse said swallowing, as he looked from one officer to the CSI. Suze was shaking now and her eyes were fixed on the white blanket.

"Of course. I can bring you to a private room and when the body is transferred to the mortuary I can show you then." Sergeant Dobson spoke in a calm and soothing voice. But Susannah shook her head.

"No, let me see." She said and Jesse sighed. Sergeant Dobson nodded his head and his eyes flicked to the Officer Carter. Jesse noticed that her hands were shaking and her dark brown eyes flicked up to Susannah's face nervously. Jesse said a silent prayer, as he watched the white blanket reveal the cold, lifeless face underneath.

His pale skin was almost translucent, his blonde eyebrows clam and relaxed, his red hair clumped together and stuck out in different directions as a result of all the blood. Susannah inched forward to get a closer look and Jesse held her shoulders tightly. Officer Carter looked up at them and Jesse nodded sadly. She lifted the cloth and covered his face again and Susannah unfroze. She let out a loud cry of pain and sank to the floor.

"How is she?" Jesse asked as Max slowly came down the stairs from his mother's room.

"She's really upset. She keeps saying _so much blood _and _poor Davie _over and over again." Max said as he slumped down on the bottom step.

"I told her it was a bad idea." Jesse mumbled and sighed. Max ran a hand through his hair and then dropped his head into his hands and sighed. Jesse felt his heart swell a bit.

"How are you doing?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know. I guess it doesn't seem real. I keep waiting for Uncle Dave to walk in the door talking about his flavor of the month and giving me tips on what girls like in a guy." Max said with a fond smile. His smile suddenly faded and he started rubbing his eyes. "I just don't understand…Who would want to kill Uncle Dave?" Max said his voice shaky. Jesse knew that he was crying and went and sat beside him on the stairs.

"Buddy, it's ok to cry. He was your uncle, your only male role model. You guys were close, so I hear. Go ahead and cry." Jesse whispered and Max took a shaky breath. He let out a quiet sob and his shoulders shuddered with each silent sob. After 10 minutes Max wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. "Better?"

"No, it still hurts." Max said, wiping his red eyes.

"It's going to for a long time." Jesse said patting Max's back. "But each day, it gets easier. Each day something happens that brings comfort." Jesse said and Max looked at him.

"It wasn't like that for my grandmother." He said, tears brimming his eyes.

"True, but that kind of love, which your grandparent's shared, is different then the kind of love that you share with David. Both are strong in their own way, but completely different." Jesse said and Max nodded. "Trust me. It does get easier."

"I hope so." He looked up the stairs and sighed. "I hope for her sake that your right." A flash of worry went across Max's young face and Jesse patted his back again.

"Don't worry. Your mother is strong, she'll be ok."

Before Max could answer the doorbell rang 2 quick rings and they both looked at it, neither one moving. Max sighed and stood up, wiping his eyes he went and answered the door.

"Hey buddy. I just heard on the radio that there was a stabbing at the airport." Michael's voice floated over Max. It sounded anxious and full of pity. "Is wasn't…?" Max nodded.

"Oh gosh." Michael said. "Your mom, how is she?"

"She's…upstairs." Jesse saw Max's knuckles turn white as he bit back a sarcastic remark. "I don't think she'll want to see you." He spat.

"She'll see me." Michael said, ignoring Max's remark, and waited for Max to move. When Max didn't he said, "She did when your grandmother died." Max knew he was beaten. He sighed and the moved out of the way. Jesse's curious gaze met Michael's concerned eyes. As he took in Jesse sitting on the stairs, in Susannah's house, his eyes went from soft to hard in less than 20 seconds and he froze in the doorway. The only sound was the pouring rain in the background.

"Are you coming in?" Max snapped.

"I'll come back later. You've got company already." He said, sizing up Jesse. "Tell your mom that I stopped by, will you?" He said glancing at Max briefly, before turning back to Jesse.

"Sure." Max said and closed the door in Michael's face. Jesse stared at the door and both of them waited for the sound of retreating footsteps on the porch before they moved. Max sighed and rubbed his face again. "I'm hungry, want something to eat?" He said moving towards the kitchen without waiting for an answer. Jesse sighed and stood up. He stared at the door and wondered about Michael. Was he really that threatened by Jesse?


	8. The Barbeque

_One Month Later…_

The first couple of weeks after David's death passed slowly for Susannah. She found on the first 3 days she could barely get out of bed, let alone leaving the house. But when the police released David's body to her 13 days after his murder, she jumped into action and started planning the funeral.

It was a closed casket because of one of the 12 stab wounds that was visible just under David's chin. He was buried close to their parents on a bright Saturday afternoon and everyone returned to Susannah's house after the service. She gave Max the job of cleaning the house and organizing pallbearers, to which he chose himself, his Uncle's Brad and Jake, Adam, Diego and Jesse. That day had passed in a blur and Suze could barely remember anything that happened. There were moments that she remembered though. She remembered Max's warm hand, holding hers tightly as the casket was lowered slowly into the ground. She remembered Jake's sad, pained face and Brad's stoned, glazed eyes. She remembered Ceecee bustling around Suze's kitchen helping with the food and Michael hovering almost every other second. Then at the end of the night, she remembered sitting at the kitchen table with Jesse and drinking an entire bottle of J & B's scotch, in David's honor.

As she studied the pillow beside her head, she realized she hadn't seen Jesse that night. She then let her mind wander and began worrying if they had fought or done other things, things that would complicate things even more. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember anything after her 3rd drink. She sighed and rolled onto her back. She would just have to ask him.

She sighed as she climbed out of her bed, slowly pushing the black sheets and white duvet back. She let her feet touch the soft white carpet and looked around the dark room. It hadn't been cleaned since before David was killed and it was in serious need of a good cleaning. Suddenly, as she took in the dirty laundry and the dirty dishes piled up beside the bed, she had a burst of energy and she felt a strong urge to do something. So she threw on a pair of grey baggy track pants, a black tank top and put her hair into a short pony tail. Then she tackled her room head on. In 1 hour the room was dusted, vacuumed, and bright and the dirty laundry was in organized piles in the basement.

She headed downstairs and swept the hallway and kitchen. She vacuumed the living room and cleaned all of the bathrooms until they were like new. She scrubbed the floor in the mud room, which led to the garage and even bathed the dog. By the time all of this was done it was 1:30 and she was starving.

She sat down in the backyard with a tune fish sandwich and an iced tea. She sighed as she took that first bite and savored every taste. As she ate slowly, she looked around her backyard. It was a really big back yard, perfect for parties. She felt the sudden urge to show people that she was getting better, that she was moving on. A vision of a barbeque popped into her head next. Max was playing with the dog, while Suze served the drinks to the guests and Jesse flipped the hamburgers on the grill. She chuckled as she pictured him in a white apron and a chef's hat. The she realized what she was thinking and shook her head to get rid of the image. But the craving to have a barbeque wouldn't go away.

When the doorbell rang, Suze smiled. Instead of grumbling, when she opened the door she smiled brightly.

"Jesse, hey!" She sang. He stood on her porch in light blue jeans and a white t-shirt, his hair was still damp and he smelled of soap. He looked at her shocked for a second. Then his eyes slowly wandered down to her outfit and she felt her cheeks heat up. "I was cleaning the house, and then I got hungry. Come in. I was just eating lunch." She said quickly, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Hungry?" She asked, walking away from him towards the kitchen.

"Why is that every time I come over here, I end up eating something?" He said with a chuckle, as Susannah put two big scoops of tuna, mixed with green olives and mayo onto a piece of whole wheat bread. She smiled.

"We love to eat in this family, always have. Naturally we force it on those who choose to enter our house." She said with a shrug as she poured him a glass of iced tea and handed him his plate.

"Well I'm going to get fat if you keep doing it." He said with a smirk.

"I guess it's a good thing you don't come around very often." She said eyeing him playfully. He flinched as he took the plate from her and followed her out to the backyard. The sat in the gazebo, protected from the hot sun and the bugs.

"Sorry that I haven't been around lately. I've been busy with work stuff." She raised her eyebrows, unable to speak from the food in her mouth. "There was a problem back home and apparently I'm the only one who can think logically when there's a problem."

"Huh, that's a first." She teased smiling at him, before taking another bite of her sandwich. "What happened?" She said between mouthfuls.

"Well there was a leak in a couple of the barrels of the older wine, I guess it was just bad manufacturing. But it was our best wine and we could never figure out why it was disappearing faster than it should have. Finally someone found the leak and reported it to me, but by the time they found it we were short on our order so they had a little panic."

"Did you go back home?"

"Briefly. I wasn't planning on staying very long, which was why I didn't say goodbye. I was only there for two days and then I came back." He said defensively. She shook her head and smiled.

"Well I guess it's good that you fixed it."

"And that I fixed it quickly." He said with a smile. "You missed me I can tell." She felt her cheeks flair and she smiled.

"If you want to think that, you can."

"Well I missed you." He whispered, loud enough for her to hear him. She looked away and cleared her throat.

"So I was thinking of having a barbeque." She said changing the subject and looking at the yard.

"Really?" He said, looking at her with amusement.

"Why you think that's a bad idea?" She said with a worried frown.

"No, not at all. I think it's a perfect idea. It's just what everyone needs." He said with a smile and she sipped her tea. "What's the occasion?"

"There isn't one, I just wanted to through a party." She said with a shrug. "I just want to have fun again." He nodded with understanding and looked thoughtful.

"Why don't you throw Adam and Ceecee an engagement party?" He asked.

"I could do that. Although Cecile's mother is throwing a big fancy party in the next couple of weeks."

"Well it could be a congratulations party. Real laid back, with paper plates."

"And red cups." She added and they both chuckled. "I'll need you to help me though." She said casually avoiding eye contact.

"With what?" His tone was suggestive, but she chose to ignore it. She gave another quick cough and smiled.

"I'll need someone to cook the burgers. Max is absolutely horrible at it. I would never tell him, but he really is. I don't know who he got it from." She said with a smile. "Plus it will be too much for me to cook and serve drinks." She noticed his silence. "Do you mind?"

"No, its just seeing as you're the one with the restaurant, maybe you should cook and I'll serve the drinks." He said, a smile playing at his eyes.

"Good idea, after all you are the expert on alcohol in this…mixture." He smiled and went quiet as he looked out over the yard. She studied the way the sun made his skin look almost golden and his green eyes look brighter.

"What is it?" She asked as his eyebrows bent with thought.

"I was remembering our very first fight." He said looking at her with a small smile.

"I remember that. You were upset that I wanted the inside of the tree house to be pink." Suze said with a chuckle.

"You were trying to destroy it." He said accusingly and she gasped.

"No! I was trying to make it…pretty." He smiled at her.

"Yea that's the problem. It's a _man_ _cave_. A man cave can't look pretty." At this Suze burst out laughing.

"A man cave! That's funny!" She chuckled. "It's not a man cave if I was in it."

"Sure you were just a privileged guest." She roared with laughter again and this time he laughed too. The only reason they had the tree house was because Suze had gotten the idea from a movie called Now and Then. It was his tree house because he was the only one with a good enough tree.

"What's so funny?" Max said, appearing in the doorway. He smiled brightly as he sat in the seat across from her.

"We were just remembering the good ol' days." Jesse said. "Like how your mother kept trying to make the…" his voice drifted as he caught sight of Mike in the doorway.

"Hi." Suze said and he smiled at her. "I didn't know you were here."

"Opps forgot." Max said with a shrug. Mike's eyes flashed and then he smiled.

"No worries budd." Mike said, and then gave Suze a gentle kiss on the cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Good, a lot better." She said with a smile. "Have a seat." She said and he sat in the empty chair beside her.

"So what did mom keep trying to do?" Max said, turning away from Mike towards Jesse.

"Oh, uh, she kept trying to add things to the tree house, to make it look pretty." Jesse said with a smile. "Most of the stuff she wanted to add was pink."

"Funny, Gina kept doing the same thing when we played up there." Max said with raised eyebrows and Jesse's smile faded. His eyes met Suze's, clearly remembering the two main events that happened in the tree house. Suze shrugged.

"Don't worry we didn't touch any thing." Max said, picking up on the vibe between Suze and Jesse. "Mom told us to stay away from the bookshelf and she gave us our own cork board to add stuff too." Suze smiled as she remembered how excited they were to have their own place. They all fell silent and the sound of chirping birds filled the air.

"So what brought you here?" Michael asked Jesse.

"Oh he's helping me plan the barbeque." Suze said, giving Jesse a wink.

"A barbeque?" Michael asked.

"Here?" Max asked enthusiastically and Suze smiled.

"Yup. It's going to be a congratulations barbeque for Adam and Ceecee." She said. "It was Jesse's idea." She added and Jesse chuckled.

"The barbeque was your mother's idea, the congratulations party was mine." Jesse explained.

"I'm going to cook and Jesse's in charge of the drinks." Suze explained to Max. "I thought you can decorate the place." Suze said to Max and he frowned slightly.

"Well, maybe I'll ask Gina to help me. She likes doing that sort of thing." Jesse chuckled.

"What do you want to do?" Michael asked with an edgy tone.

"Oh, um…hmm…" Suze frowned trying to think of something. Max smirked and glanced at Jesse quickly.

"You could help Max and Gina decorate." Jesse offered, giving Max a stern look and Max scowled.

"I think two people's enough to decorate." Michael said and Max nodded.

"I agree." He said.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Suze asked him and he smiled and patted her hand.

"I'll find something to do, don't worry." He said and she nodded and gently pulled her hand away. Michael cleared his throat and said, "So when is this all taking place?" Suze looked at Jesse and he raised his eyebrows.

"Next week?" She asked him.

"Sure. Next week's good for me." Jesse said with a nod.

"Saturday's a good day for a barbeque." Max added.

"Alright, next Saturday. Mark it on your calendar. Adam and Cecile's congratulations party."

"No Max! You have to turn it clockwise not counter-clockwise." Gina's voice floated in through the doors. Suze looked up to see her son frowning at the white streamer in his hand. Gina gently took the streamer away from him and showed him the proper way to turn the streamer. Her long, straight blonde hair was in a loose ponytail and she was wearing a blue jean skirt with a white top that had cute little puffy sleeves.

"What's the difference?" Max grumbled as Gina carefully taped the end of he white streamer to the fence.

"It looks better this way." She said with a shrug and Suze chuckled as she watched Gina take down the streamer that Max had just hung two minutes ago. Max groaned.

"I give up! I'll go and blow up the balloons." He snapped and strode away.

"You give up so easily! How can I count on you for real issues if you can't even handle putting up streamers?" She called after him, a mischievous smile on her lips. Suze watched her laugh and shake her head as she turned back to the streamers and then Max stormed into the kitchen. Suze pretended that she hadn't been paying attention. When Max slammed the kitchen chair into the table Suze looked up with raised eyebrows.

"What's wrong honey?" She asked cheerfully.

"I hate women! There never happy!" He snapped, while rummaging through the bag of decorations.

"No you don't buddy! They just know what buttons to press." Jesse said behind her, causing her to jump. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans and with the sunlight shinning in through the door he looked all that much more irresistible.

"Yea well…it's annoying." Max said, snatching up the entire bag of decorations and storming back outside. Jesse stood beside her as they watched him grumble something to Gina. She gave him a big smile, when his back was to her and sauntered up to him. She said something quietly to him and he turned towards her with a look of pure anger on his face. She let out a cute little laugh, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He said something to her, but there was a smile on his lips now too and she just kissed him again, to get him to stop talking.

"Funny huh?" Jesse said, moving closer to her. "They remind me of us."

"You must be thinking of someone else." Suze said with a sigh. "We were never like that." She moved away from him and grabbed the burgers off the counter. She slipped a white apron on over her navy blue jean dress, put on her sunglasses and headed outside.

"Why do you do that?" Jesse said quietly, as he followed her outside.

"Do what?" She asked, pretending to be completely oblivious to what he had just said. She looked over her shoulder at him and blinked at him. He sighed and shook his head.

"Never mind." He grumbled. "You want me to put the cooler here?" He said pointing next to the barbeque.

"No I think it's better over there." She said pointing to the edge of the patio far away from her. He sighed and shook his head again as he lifted the cooler and carried it to the spot she had chosen. She watched him walk over and place the cooler on the ground. She felt goose bumps grow on her arms as she watched his muscles flex. She had the urge to feel them again, to feel them wrapped around her tightly.

"Hello dear." Michael said, startling her. He leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Oh, Mike, you scared me." She said with a slight smile.

"Sorry. I did call your name though." He said holding up one of the boxes of hamburgers.

"I guess I wasn't listening." She glanced again at Jesse who was know helping Max and Gina with the decorations.

"It's the music." Michael said with a shrug. "Oh I almost forgot. I saw Adam and Cecile's car pull up as I was coming inside."

"Already?" Suze started panicking. "Guys their here!" She said calling to Max, Gina and Jesse.

"But no one else is here yet." Max said.

"I told them 5:30." Gina defended. Suze looked at the black Kensington Street clock that hung at the side of the house. It was only 4:30.

"Not much we can do now." Mike said.

"Everything's ready anyways, Suze. We just need the people." Jesse said, giving her shoulder a tight squeeze.

"Yea I guess your right." Suze said. "Can you watch these for me?" She asked him.

"I'll do it dear." Mike said before Jesse could answer. He grabbed the tongs from her hand and started turning the potatoes that were cooking on the top grill.

"Uh, ok thanks." She said, wiping her hands on her apron and headed inside.

"He doesn't like me, huh?" Jesse said, following her to the front door.

"Who? Max?"

"What? No, Michael!" Jesse said.

"Oh, well did he like you in high school?" Suze asked, looking out the front window.

"I…I don't really remember him in high school." Jesse said, leaning on the railing of the stairs and Suze chuckled.

"He's fine. I guess he just feels left out or something. Jeez here they come." She said. She fixed her hair in the mirror and took off her sunglasses. She opened the door and they smiled brightly as the couple climbed up the porch steps.

"Hey! You're early." Suze said kissing Cecile's cheek and hugging Adam.

"I thought it was supposed to start at 4:30." Ceecee said.

"No, the party doesn't start till…"

"Doesn't matter! You're here now." Jesse interrupted. "Congrats." He said shaking Adam's hand and giving Ceecee a hug.

"You know I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be answering the door together." Ceecee said with a bright smile and gave Suze a wink.

"Yes well…let's get you a drink." Suze said linking arms with her friend and heading out toe patio.

By 7 o'clock the party was in full swing and the food was almost completely devoured. People gathered in little groups all over the backyard. Suze surveyed the party as she mixed the whipped cream. Ceecee was showing off her ring for the 20th time that evening, to old friends. Gina was playing tug of war with Sheeba and Max and Jesse were standing side by side talking with Adam and Bryce Mortinson, who since high school had gained 60 lbs and lost almost all of his brown hair.

When the whip cream was finished, Suze added it to the top of the trifle that she had made, and carried it outside. Just as she passed Max and Jesse she heard Adam say, "So what did you do when you found out?" She froze.

"Uh, found out what?" Jesse asked, just as equally uncomfortable.

"That you have a kid." Adam laughed. Jesse's gaze met hers briefly.

"You've got a kid?" Max asked and Suze inwardly groaned as Adam let out a laugh.

"You're kidding right?" He asked with a smile. When he saw that Max wasn't smiling back, his smile dropped. "Oh you're not kidding." All humor was gone and the people around them had gone quiet. "You really don't know?"

"Know what? What are you talking about?" Max asked uncomfortably.

"That he's your dad." Adam said and with that the bowl of trifle slipped from Suze's hands and smashed into pieces when it hit the patio stones.

"Oh no." She said as she bent down to pick up the pieces. Jesse was at her side in two seconds helping her pick up the pieces. His eyes met her, reflecting the panic expression that hers gave. They stared at each other having a private conversation with only their eyes.

"He's my…Mom? Is this for real?" Max asked, with a little laugh of disbelief. Suze closed her eyes and counted to 10 and then stood up. Jesse stood up beside her and they stared at their confused son with matching expressions of concern.

"Mom?" He asked looking from her to Jesse and back.

"Max…" Jesse started to explain, but Max shut him up with a cold stare.

"Mom, tell me." Suze sighed.

"It's true." The whole crowd was silent now, waiting. Suze watched as anger and bewilderment flashed across Max's face. "We thought you knew." She defended.

"How would I know?" Max snapped.

"Dude, you look just like him." Bryce added and Max gave him a harsh stare. Suze knew that he now, not only felt betrayed and angry, but also embarrassed. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. He looked around at all the faces watching and shook his head. Without another word he pushed past her and left the party.

"Max, wait!" Suze called after him, put Gina stopped her.

"It's probably best if I go." She said with a sympathetic smile and Suze sighed and nodded. She watched Gina run after Max, and then shook her head.

"Good one idiot!" Jesse snapped at Adam.

"Hey I didn't know." He said holding up his hands.

"It's not your fault. We should've told him sooner." She said looking at Jesse with a stern look. "Sorry folks, it looks like its just pie and cake for dessert." She said with a light laugh. People then turned back to their groups with something new to add to their conversations.

"I wanted to tell him." Jesse hissed as they carried the broken pieces of glass into the kitchen.

"I told you he would get upset." She hissed back.

"Can you blame him? He just found out that I was his father from a complete stranger, based on the fact that we look alike."

"Almost identical actually." She said with a sigh and leaned on the sink. "What do we do know?" She asked looking out the doors, but not really seeing anything. Jesse sighed and leaned against the counter next to her. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of her son and all the hurt he was probably going through. Jesse saw the tear fall down her cheek and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She took a deep breath and rested her head on his chest.

"Just give him time. He'll accept it eventually."


	9. The Tree House Pt III

Max didn't come home for 3 days. Each morning Jesse would wake up at 7 and wait to see if Max would be out to take Sheeba for a run. But for 3 days the mornings were silent; motionless.

This day Jesse awoke at 7 and sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed. He stood at the window for 5 minutes and then told himself that Max wouldn't be running until 730 so he had time to get a cup of coffee.

He stood in the kitchen, listening to the calming sounds of the coffee machine making a fresh pot and breathing in the smell of South African coffee beans. He rubbed his tired eyes and scratched his unshaven face as he looked up at the tree house in the backyard. He remembered the night that Max was conceived as he studied the tree house. He had been so mad that he never went back into the tree house since that night, and it was there that his life, whether he knew it or not, changed. It was there that he became a father and he had done a horrible job so far. He needed to find Max and sort this all out; give him some words of wisdom or something like that. Jesse sighed as he poured himself some coffee and took a sip. He looked back at the tree house and took a walk down memory lane.

He was trying to remember every word, every expression that had passed over Suze's face that night, when a quick movement in one of the windows caught his eye and he came back to reality. He leaned on the counter, closer to the window to get a better look. Just when he thought he was going crazy there was another movement and this time, it was clear that someone was in the tree house.

He grabbed the baseball bat and quietly headed to the tree house. At the foot of the tree he listened carefully. There was no sound up above, only silence. He grabbed onto the bat tighter and carefully climbed up the steps on the trunk, making as little noise as he could.

Once he reached the top of the steps, Jesse slowly poked his head through the hole. There, lying on the floor, with Suze's yellow pillow under his head and an old quilt from the house was Max. He was lying perfectly still and Jesse could hear the faint sound of Duality by Slipknot ringing out of the ear buds in Max's ears. He sighed and tossed the baseball bat down into the grass, just in case it went badly and Max felt the need to break something or someone. He pulled himself up into the tree house and his movements caused Max to jump up ready for a fight. When he saw Jesse, in a white t-shirt and black jogging shorts, with his hands up in surrender Max sighed and sat back.

"Oh it's you." Max snarled sitting back on the pillow and putting the ear buds back in his ears.

"I'm glad I found you. We've been really worried." Jesse said and Max made a mock laugh and looked out the window.

"Can I explain?" Jesse asked.

"Sorry can't hear you." Max said turning up the volume on his iPod. Jesse sighed, sitting back against the wall and watched him. They really did look alike. But Max also had parts of his mother in him as well. He had her lips, and the shape of her eyes and when he scowled the two looked almost identical. Jesse smiled and to hide it, moved towards the bulletin boards hanging on the wall nearest him.

It had been 18 years since he had been up here and it hadn't changed very much since. There were a few little changes, such as the new books added to the bookshelf and a wooden chess set on the coffee table. The biggest change was Max's bulletin board. It was painted red with a blue border and it was hung next to Suze and Jesse's plain brown cork board.

Jesse smiled as he saw that the board was full of pictures. There were pictures of Max and Gina smiling toothless smiles at a carnival and then their "brace-faces" at Halloween where Gina was dressed up as a dead bride and Max was the killer groom. There were school pictures and pictures of family functions. Looking at the photos of children growing from friends to sweethearts made Jesse smile. It was like looking at time pass by.

He looked over to his old cork board ad noticed the yellowing at the corners of the pages and the dust layered thick on the top of the board. As he studied his own childhood photos he noticed that the drawing they had made was tacked to the board. He was shocked and sat back and studied it. Surely he had put it away in the box the last time he had been here.

"Did, did you put this up?" He asked turning to Max, who was watching Jesse very carefully.

"No it was there when we started coming up here." Max answered, letting Jesse know that Max could hear him. Jesse nodded and turned back to the drawing. The paper was a dull yellow and the quality of the drawing was bad but it was what was behind the coloured lines that held all the importance.

"That's you." Jesse said, pointing to the boy stick figure, which stood beside Suze's stick person. Max leaned forward and squinted his eyes at the picture.

"He's blonde." Max said shaking his head.

"Yea well, we were 13. We didn't learn about genetics until we were 15." Jesse sighed. "This was our dream, before everything changed."

"What…never mind." Max said, sitting back, folding his arms over his chest and looking out the window again. Jesse smiled at Max's stubbornness. He sighed and turned away from the cork boards and walked towards the bookshelf. He found the little box on the bottom shelf and gently picked it up. He blew the dust off the top and traced the heart painted on the top. He opened the top and smiled as he looked over her 3rd grade writing on a birthday card.

"What's that?" Max asked, finally caving.

"It's, uh, everything your mother ever gave me." Jesse smiled at the look of confusion and surprise on Max's face. "Well everything that was small enough to fit."

"Everything?" Max asked moving closer to look in the box.

"Yep, every birthday card, Christmas card and even valentine's day card." Jesse said with a sigh as he showed Max a pink tinker bell valentine. Max smiled and then shook his head.

"But why? Why would you keep all this stuff?" Max asked reaching into the box and opening a birthday card. Jesse shrugged.

"I was in love with her." Jesse admitted and Max looked at him this time with curiosity instead of anger.

"I always thought…"

"I' don't think…I've always loved her." Jesse admitted out loud for the first time ever. He felt the weight of his secret lift off of him as he let the words hang in the air.

"I guess, I thought it was…a one night stand sort of deal." Max said with a shrug, the pain only noticeable on the crease in his forehead.

"Well, technically it was a one time thing." Jesse said smiling as Max cringed at the thought of his mother having sex. "Listen, I had no idea that I had a kid or I would've bee there." Jesse defended and Max frowned even more.

"Mom said…"

"She never told me. Hell even my own mother hid you from me." Jesse shook his head angrily.

"Why wouldn't they tell you? Or me?" Max said equally frustrated.

"She…you mother has trust issues. She's never really trusted me enough to have complete faith in me. Even when we were kids she would always end up doing our entire group projects because she was too afraid that I would ruin it. I guess, to her, she was protecting you, and me."

"Or she was protecting herself." Max snapped and Jesse realized he had to do damage control.

"Look, you mother loves you. She's not perfect and makes mistakes like the rest of us. But she loves you. That's all that matters." Max stared at him shocked.

"But, she didn't tell you either. Why aren't you pissed?"

"Believe me I was. But I was also excited, nervous, curious, scared. I couldn't stay mad at her for that and you shouldn't either." Jesse said more unsympathetic than he meant.

"Watch me." Max spat.

"Max, she loves you."

"You said that already." Max said.

"I know, but I'm just trying to stress the fact; let you know how lucky you are." Max rolled his eyes. "You are lucky. I'd be happy with 1/10 of that love. To go your whole life without a dad, but to have a mom that loves you enough for both parents, who can handle the role of both parents…that's lucky." Jesse spoke softly. "You said before that if you met your dad that it wouldn't really matter anyways."

"Well…that's different."

"Not really. You and I will, hopefully get to know each other, but you and your mother…you'll always need her." Jesse said and the pained look on Max's face let Jesse know that he had won. "You're allowed to be angry Max, but talk to her about it. Don't do this alone." Jesse said and Max sighed, rubbing his face. When he looked down at the box he frowned again. "What?" Jesse asked and a small smiled danced over Max's face.

"It's everything she ever gave you." He said, getting up and hanging Jesse the box before leaving the tree house. Jesse looked into the box and froze. There, at the bottom of the box was a picture of a tiny baby in the uterus. At the top corner of the picture, Maxim Andrew Hector Simon was written out neatly. He lifted the picture and studied it. Something bright in the box caught his eye and he looked away from the picture. There was a stack of pictures underneath the one he was holding. They started with Max as a 2 month old baby sleeping in his crib, wearing a Celtic jersey, Jesse's favorite soccer team. The next one was of Max at 7 months, with a balding head. He was sitting for one of the first times.

The pictures flipped through Max's life from his first steps to his first birthday, to his first day at school where he wore a green polo shirt and cream coloured pants, accompanied with a Batman back pack. Then there were pictures of Max and Gina at a cottage and Max playing soccer, Max with braces, Max in high school. The last picture made Jesse stop and stare. It was Max's high school graduation. He was smiling broadly, a perfect white smile and he was all decked out in a red cap and gown. Standing beside him was Suze and she was smiling the biggest smile he had ever seen on her face. Her blue eyes were twinkling with tears and the sunlight shone on her hair and face and made it look that much more radiant. She was beautiful.

What made his heart skip a beat was, that in her own way, she had wanted him to know. She had wanted him there for every big moment in Max's life. She had put all the pictures of the milestones of Max's life into his special box. This told Jesse that she loved him, she wanted him around and that she was just too scared to admit it. And that was when he decided that he needed to help her admit her feelings. He would do whatever it took.

He was sitting on the porch, dozing off under a pair of aviator sunglasses with a Dan Brown novel in his lap, when he heard the sound of soft footsteps on the porch steps. He jumped and looked up to see Suze standing in front of him. She smiled a smug smile down at him.

"Were you sleeping?" She asked, not even trying to hide her amusement.

"Nope."

"Yes you were!" She chuckled. "Jeez Jess, grey hair in one thing but afternoon naps too?"

"Ha-ha. Did you come here to tease me about my age?" He asked with a sly smile. She sighed and leaned on the railing in front of him. He quickly scanned her body which, these days, was like saying hi. She was wearing a white t-shirt with a pair of black jean shorts and a pair of white flip flops. He cleared his throat and looked back at her face.

"I wanted to thank you." She said folding her arms across her stomach.

"For what?"

"For talking to Max."

"I didn't…He told you?"

"No, but I know that you did talk to him." She said smiling as she sat in the chair beside him. "He told me that he understood why I didn't say anything. Then he told me that I should trust you more." She squinted her eyes at him with curiosity and a smile played at her lips.

"Smart boy." Jesse shrugged.

"Mmhmm…anyways thank you for finding him." She said getting up and Jesse stood up with her.

"No problem. After all he is my son too." He answered, choosing the words carefully and getting the result that he wanted. She froze mid step and looked at him slowly. She studied his face and then sighed.

"Unfortunately." She frowned and the let out a giggle.

"Funny. It's good that he's like me or I would've never found him." Jesse said with a victorious smile.

"Why where was he?"

"He was in the tree house. He was all-"

"MOM!" Max's shouts came from across the yard. "Mom! Come quick!" They both raced down the steps and met Max at the driveway. His face was pale and his eyes were red with the beginning of tears. Fear and pain were in his eyes and the look of panic on his face made Jesse feel powerless.

"What's wrong?" Suze asked, touching Max's face gently.

"It's Sheeba!" tears filled his eyes. "She's dead!"


	10. Unsettling Questions

Max led them quickly through Suze's house, holding her hand tightly, and stopping once they stepped onto the patio. Max stoppped took a deep breath and lifted his hand. He pointed to the tree in the far corner of the yard.

"She's over there." He said no louder than a whisper. They looked in the direction of his finger and spotted a large white ball of white lying peacefully in the shade.

"Oh no." Suze whispered and pulled Max closer. All the memories involving Sheeba flooded her brain, such as the moment when Max walked into the house and in the middle of the floor was a little white puppy sleeping peacefully, or the time when Max went camping with his friends and Sheeba had stayed outside his bedroom door every minute until he got back, or how everytime there was a bad thunderstorm, she always knew that Suze was nervous and would cuddle up next to her on her bed. The tears flowed down her face as they all stared at the dog.

"Are you...sure?" Jesse asked inching forward.

"She didnt even perk her ears when I called her." Max said, his face was pale and grief stricken.

"I'll go and uh, check." Jesse said looking at Suze's pleading eyes. He hesitated before crossing the yard to the dog. Suze stood holding Max's hand gently as she watched him bend down and inspect Sheeba. After 10 minutes Jesse sighed and turned around. One look told Suze everything she needed to know.

"Oh honey." She said to Max, wrapping her arms around him tightly. He was stiff for a moment and then he let his emotions take over his body and he started to quiver with his sobs. She felt his arms tighten around her shoulders as if holding onto her for dear life. She stood holding her baby in her arms and wished she could take all his pain away.

"But she wasnt that old." He said wiping his face and letting go of her.

"Honey, its different for dogs than it is for people." Suze said rubbing his back. He scowled.

"I'm not stupid mother! I think I know that!" Max snapped catching Suze off gaurd.

"Hey," Jesse stepped in. "It's not fault her that the dogs dead." Max sighed and shook his head.

"It's just...she was fine when i took her for a run half an hour ago." He shook his head and covered his face as tears formed in his eyes. Suze looked at her broken son and felt a strong need to fix this. But how? She looked to Jesse and saw the same feeling written all over his body. He met her eyes and sighed.

"Max, buddy, we cant leave her there." He said, speaking softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I cant..." His voice was shaky.

"Honey, you have to." Suze coaxed.

"I'm not ready." Max shook his head. "I cant bury her."

"I'll help you." Jesse said, then looked at Suze. "We'll help you." He said and Max sighed.

"It's ok honey. It'll be ok." Suze said, taking Max's hand again as they started off towards Sheeba. Jesse disappeared into the shed to get the shovel. "Where should we..."Her voice trailed off as she looked around the yard.

"Here's fine." Max said pointing at the spot where Sheeba lay. She looked like she was about to open her eyes and dash around the yard like she normally did.

10 minutes later the grave was dug and Max was stroking Sheeba's hair fondly. Jesse and Suze stepped back and watched as Max whispered his goodbye's to the dog. He sighed and slipped his hands gently under the dogs body and lifted her into his arms. As soon as the dog was lifted off the ground Suze noticed something was different. When she saw that the dog's head hung in an unnatural way she let out a gasp. At the sound of her gasp both Jesse and Max looked at Sheeba and noticed that her neck had been broken. Max stared at Sheeba in his arms with horror. Jesse took the dog out of Max's arms before the a thought even went through Suze's head. He gently laid Sheeba back in the gradd and they all stood back and stared at her.

"I told you!" Max shouted. "Someone's killed her!"

"You...you dont know that." Suze whispered, but even as she said the words she knew he was right. Jesse's quick movements caught her eye and she looked at him just as he pulled his blackberry out of his pocket.

"What...what are you doing?" She asked as he started dialing a number.

"I'm calling Sergeant Dobson." He said matter-of-factly.

"What? why?"

"Because he said to call if anything came up."

"Jess, it's just a dog." Suze said, afraid of what this meant.

"Not to Max she isnt." Jesse spoke in lower voice, so Max wouldnt hear, but Max wasnt listening anyways. He had his face pressed against the dogs side and was sobbing silently into her fur. There was a look in Jesse's eye that she had never seen before and she knew that he was right. She sighed and turned back to Max as Jesse hit the call button.

"Mrs. Simon?" Sergeant Dobson appeared behind her, who was staring at the pictures on the fridge. She turned and smiled slightly. The sun was starting to set and through the doors she could see CSI's walking around her backyard taking pictures of the odd leaf that looked out of place.

"So, do you know how...what happened?" She asked him. His face was grim and he looked sad.

"The dogs neck is broken, seems like a clean break. It would've taken a serious amount of strength and determination to break a dogs neck, so we want to do a tox report on the dog to make sure." He said and she nodded her head. "We think...it looks like...has you're dog been bothering any of your neighbours?"

"No. She never leaves the house, unless Max is with her and she rarely ever barks." Suze said, feeling tears form in her eyes at the thought of how much she took for granted.

"Have you gotten into an arugment with anyone lately?"

"No, not that I know of." Suze thought carefully, trying to remember any fueds that she had that would cause someone to kill her dog.

"Have you recieved threatening messages or warnings since your brother's passing?"

"No, I've told you this already." She said, frustration growing strong inside.

"I know Mrs. Simon, I just want to have updated notes." He said and flipped the page in his notepad. "Can you describe your relationship with Mr. Meducci?"

"Michael?" Suze choked. Her mind seemed to grow fuzzy and she felt faint. She stared at Sergeant Dobson with confusion. "What does Michael have to do with Sheeba's death?"

"Your son seems to think that Mr. Meducci is capable of doing something of this nature." He said eyeing her carefully.

"He said that?"

"Well actually he acused Mr. Meducci of killing his dog, yes." He said nodding his head and rereading his notes. Suze stared at him with disbelief.

"I...why? Michael wouldnt..."She said looking away and started to think of Michael. It wasnt possible.

"I'll ask you again, Can you describe your relationship with Mr. Meducci?"

Jesse, Max and Suze stood in the kitchen and watched the CSI's leave the scene first, then they watched as the rest of the crew started to slowly leave the yard. It wasnt until Sergeant Dobson left that anyone spoke.

"Dont say it Mom." Max said, leaing against the kitchen counter, with a scowl on his face. "You know, deep down, that it was him."

"How can you say that?What has he done to you? He's been there for you your entire life and this is how you repay him? You accuse him of killing the dog?" She shouted and Max folded his arms and scowled.

"Suze, he's just..." Jesse said, but Suze held up her hand and stared at Max.

"Why would you do that?" She asked him again.

"I just...I just know that it was him. I cant explain it, but i just know." His eyes changed from anger to pleading.

"Even if... What would he gain from killing the dog?" She asked, her voice still angry but her expression changed from anger to concern.

"I dont know Mom. Power, domination, something to take out his frustrations on. He gained the same thing that he did when he killed Uncle Dave." Suze felt her anger boil up again and she stepped towards her son ready to lash out. Jesse stepped in between them.

"How dare you!" She shouted at him. "How dare you accuse my friend of killing...I did not raise you to be this...ungrateful!" She snapped and she knew she had hit a nerve because a hard look passed over his face. "Not only does it make you seem ungrateful but do you know how it looks to Sergeant Dobson and the rest of the officers? It looks like my teenage son is jealous of his mom's new boyfriend!" Max rolled his eyes. "Poor Max lost all his attention to his Mom's new boyfriend so he's going to blame him for killing the dog!" Suze mocked and Max gave a sarcastic snort.

"The guy's been around for years." Max snapped.

"That's not the point Max, and you know it!"

"Look, this isn't getting us anywhere." Jesse spoke up. "Let's just leave this for the police to handle. If it is Michael then they'll figure it out."

"If what is me?" a voice from behind Jesse caused them all to jump. They all froze in place as Michael entered the kitchen. He smiled at them and raised his eyebrows.

"It's nothing." Suze said casually, while Max said, "Someone killed my dog." Michael blinked at Max and then let out a laugh.

"And you think I've done it?" He asked eyeing Max with a smirk. Max just shrugged and looked away.

"Of course not!" Suze said, scolding Max with a look. "We know you would never do that." Max scowled and looked away. Michael looked from Suze to Max and finally to Jesse. His eyes hardened as he took in Jesse.

"So Mike, what brings you here?" Jesse asked cooly.

"I've come to take Suze to Adam and Ceecee's engagement party." He said losing his harsh tone as he looked at her. "Remeber?" He really didnt need to ask because it was clear from her expression that she had forgotten.

"Oh shit! It's today?" Michael nodded and checked his watch.

"In about half an hour actually."

"Max we've got to get ready." She said, heading out of the kitchen.

"I'm not going." He mumbled and Suze spun around to look at him.

"What?" She snapped. "You have to."

"I'm too upset." he said scowling like a child. Suze had the sudden urge to slap him.

"Max it's just a stupid dog!" She yelled. The look he gave her made her instantly regret the words that had just left her mouth. It broke her heart to see the heart and hatred in his eyes. He tore his eyes away from her and stalked out of the kitchen. She groaned and rubbed her face.

"I think I'm just going to stay home." She said to Michael. He stopped for a moment and just stared at her. Then he shook his head.

"Suze, you're the maid of honor, you have to go."

"Michael, I think she'll understand." Suze snapped.

"You want to let your best friend down?" He asked. Before she could answer Jesse said, "I'll go and talk to him. You go and get ready." He smiled and touched her shoulder. "It's ok, I got this." Then he passed by her and headed up the stairs to talk to Max. She had nothing left to do but go and get ready.

An hour later they were laughing at yet antoher joke told by Adam's older brother. Gina, who stood beside Suze and Michael leaned close to Suze and smiled.

"Where's Max?" SHe asked, a blonde curl falling across her light blue cocktail dress.

"It's a long story." Suze whispered back. "I'll tell you later."

"The dogs dead." Michael muttered and Suze shot him an angry glare.

"Oh no! How?" Their conversation had increased in volume and therefore had caused people to look over with curiosity and annoyance. Suze blushed and smiled an apology. Out of the corner of her mouth she said, "I'll tell you later."

"To the Bride and Groom, or soon to be Bride and Groom." Adam's brother lifted his glass and everyone followed queue raising their glasses.

"To the Bride and Groom." They all shouted and then they took a drink from their glasses. Adam shook his brother's hand and Ceecee kissed his cheek, before he handed the mic off to Ceecee's parents. They stood side by side, holding each other hand tightly and smiling proudly at their only child.

"Oh our sweet Cecelia. We are so proud of you." Her mother said, tears in her eyes.

"We thought we were proud the day that you -"

"Excuse me." Michael spoke out, cutting of Ceecee's father. Everyone turned and looked in their direction. Out of the corner of her eye Suze saw Gina step away and Suze felt like she was going to die from embarassment. "Excuse me. Sorry for cutting you off, but this is important." He took a deep breath and turned to Suze. He took both of her hands in his and smiled. She had seen this before, the same shaking in his hands, his eyes bright and intense, a line of nervous sweat forming above his lip. She blinked at him and shook her head.

"Susannah," He started.

"Oh no!" She said.

"Here we are surrounded by people we love and who love us just as much." Suze looked around at the people staring back with pure shock. She didnt know 1/2 of these people and they definatly did not know who she was. "We see two of our best friends about to get married and start their lives together." As he spoke Suze heard Adam say,

"I didnt know that we were best friends with him."

"Shhh." Ceecee said.

"All this love inspires me, makes me want to take that same path; start my own life. So..." Slowly he got down on one knee and reached into his suit jacket. He pulled out the same blue box that he had used for his 3 other proposals. "Susannah Simon, will you marry me?"


	11. The Ways of Love

**A/N: So this Chapter is where the M rating comes from...I just wanted to give a warning for those who might feel uncomfortable reading smut. You can skip if you like and everything will be recapped in later chapters**

**Thanks**

* * *

Jesse looked away from the hockey game playing on Suze's TV and reached into his pocket for his vibrating cellphone. He looked at the screen and smiled at Max.

"Who is it?" He asked as he took a swig of the beer that Jesse had given him.

"Your mother." He said and the flipped open the phone. "Hello?" He said sweetly.

"Jesse?" She asked, sounding flustered.

"It is. Who else were you expecting?" He teased, but she didnt rise to the bait.

"Can you come and pick me up?" She asked.

"So soon? Party's kinda dull huh?" He smiled and Max shook his head.

"Please Jesse! It's been..."she sighed. "Can you come and get me?"

"Of course." He sat up when he realized that she was distressed. "Where are you?"

"At the Palace. It's a bar close to my restaurant. Actually I'll walk there. Can you pick me up there?"

"Of course. I'll be there in 10 minutes." He said.

"Thanks Jess." She said and hung up.

"What's wrong with her? Max asked with a sour expression.

"She's...I guess she just wants to come home." Max made a face and Jesse chose to ignore it. "I'll be right back."

"I'm not cleaning up." Max said, kicking an empty pizza box off the coffee table and putting his socked feet on the table. He managed to knock empty pop cans off the table in the process of making an even bigger mess. Jesse shook his head and couldnt help the smile that crept onto his lips.

"I never asked you too." He said closing the front door behind him.

8 minutes later he spotted Suze's restaurant and pulled into the staff parking lot, which led behind the building. He turned off the car and went inside. It smelt of tomatoe sauce and garlic bread. But the store was dark and there wasnt a sound. He looked around the dimly lit dinning room and smiled. She had made her dreams come true. There were little round tables with wrought iron chairs and booths along the walls, each table had a red and white checkered table cloth, a candle and a drink menu. To the left side of the room was the bar with 6 or 7 stools and beside was an old jukebox. At the back was a swinging wooden door that said _employee's only._ There was a light coming out from under the door so Jesse headed towards it.

When he opened the door he smiled. She was sitting on one of the metal counters with a bottle of red wine while Whitney Huston sang softly out of a portable stero on the counter beside her. She was wearing a white, short sleeved blouse with a black pencil skirt that sat high on her waist and when she had left the house she had been wearing black stockings, which Jesse noticed were lying on the ground two feet away from her, beside one of her black high heels. Her hair, that was once curled and neat was messy and wild and her cheeks were pink from the wine. He leaned against the door and watched as she swayed her head to the music and he chuckled when she started to sing.

_"I know that when you look at me  
there's so much that you just dont see  
but if you would only take the time  
i know in my heart you'd find  
a girl who's scared sometimes  
whose isnt always strong..."_

"Oh Jesse! I dinn't see you therr." SHe said with a laugh as she waved at him.

"Having fun?" He asked and she smiled brightly purple teeth.

"Yes." She said with a nod and took a swig from the bottle. "Want some?"

"No thanks. Someone has to drive."

"Phssh. Drive! That's what cabs are for! Come on." She smiled and winked at him while patting the metal counter beside her. How could he resist?

He shook his head as he climbed onto the table beside her and she passed him the bottle. He smiled at her and lifted it to the light. It was almost empty and he made a note of this.

"I was thirsty." She shrugged. "Wait I'll get another one." She slid off the counter and headed towards the door.

"Suze I dont think that's...wise." She was gone before he had even thought of the ending to his sentence. He smirked and sighed. He felt an unusual stirr in his stomach and his hands felt clammy. He shook his head and downed the rest of the wine. The next minute Suze burst back into the kitchen with two more bottles. She held them up and smiled brightly.

"Now we can have a real party." She said and passed them to him as she changed the song. Starz on 54 started singing_ If You Could Read My Mind_. "I LOVE THIS SONG!" She shouted and started dancing around the kitchen. He laughed as she belted out the words. "I dont know where we went wrong but the feelings strong and I just cant get it back! If _YOU_ could read my mind!" She said pointing at him. He shook his head and she giggled, and jumped up onto the counter beside him. She pushed her curly black hair back and took a drink from the new bottle.

"So..."He said and she just looked at him with glossy eyes. She took a drink again and passed him the bottle. "Why'd you leave the party so early? Why'd you come here to get drunk when you were at a bar?"

"I'm not drunk!" She shrieked. Then she snorted and started giggling. "Ok I am but shh, dont tell Max." She whispered pushing a finger to her lips.

"How many bottles have you drank?" He asked her and watched her purse her lips with thought.

"Um...one."

"ONE! I forgot that you're a light weight!" He teased and took another drink from the bottle. "You'd think that getting older would teach you to pace yourself." He said with a scolding tone, but she knew he was kidding.

"Yes well, i dont OWN a wine company and I had a baby in my teenage years so staying out all night drinking was kind of out of the question." She said with a sigh.

"I suppose." She took another large gulp and passed him the bottle. "Still no excuse though." He smiled at her before he took a drink. Already he could feel his stomach heat up and his head was light. "So are you going to tell me why you left?"

"I didnt leave, you did." She said defensivly. He looked at her confused for a moment and then he realized what she was talking about.

"I wouldn't have if you had told me." He said, losing track of the other topic.

"Yeah I can imagine how that would go. Oh hey Jess. Guess what? You cant live your life becuase I'm pregnant." She said with a bitter smile.

"I would've lived my life, it just would've been a different one." He said and she shook her head.

"Imagine us raising a baby together when we practically hated each other." She said with a snort.

"I never hated you." He said and she rolled her eyes. "I never did. I love you. I would've done anything for you. Hell even now I would do anything for you, clearly." He wasnt sure if he was truly being brave or if it was the liquid courage filling his belly. She looked up at him and studied his face.

"You loved me?" She asked with a curious smile.

"I love you." He said and with out another word he bent down and kissed her. She didnt even hesitate this time; she immeadiatly responded to his lips touching her. She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer. He felt that old familiarity of her lips, that feeling that he had searched for but never found in anyone else. The strong taste of alcohol was on her tongue but it tasted 10 times better on hers than his.

He felt her hands start to explore his body first and he grabbed them firmly. She looked at him with shock and he smiled down at her.

"It's my turn to lead." He said and kissed her, while continuing to hold onto her hands. He forced her onto her back and started kissing her neck. He wasnt sure if he was finally taking control or if it was because of the alcohol, but holding both of her hands one of his hands, with the other he slowly unbuttoned her shirt, kissing each section of exposed skin. When he reached her navel she inhaled and goosebumps broke out over her stomach. He smiled at her before he kissed her again, releasing her hands long enough for them to take all of their clothes off.

Once completely naked he held her hands again and kissed each finger gently. Then his kisses moved up her arm to her neck then reconnected with her mouth. She gasped as they met each other and he felt more goosebumps spread over her skin. At the peak of her climax she gasped and spoke words he never thought that he would ever hear. "I love you."

They laid side by side on the floor of the kitchen, thier clothes underneath them and Mariah's_ Always Be My Baby_ was playing in the background. Jesse's hand traced along Suze's ribs and then her hip and back up again. She looked over his chest, studying him. When their eyes met they both smiled.

"Not quiet the same as list time." She said.

"Dont say that." He said. "Nothing good comes from those words." She chuckled and moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest.

"Well it is. I dont remember you being so..." She looked up at him and smiled.

"What? Ruggishly Handsome? Manly?"

"Soft." She said, poking at his stomach.

"Ha ha." He smirked. "After marriage number 2 I don't see the need to kill myself at the gym anymore."

"I kinda like it." She said, kissing his chest. "You're better this way." Her eyes flicked up to his as she softly kissed his skin.

"Yes well..." but he couldnt think. All he could focus on was the feeling on her lips on his skin. In the distraction of her kisses and the need to say something to defend himself he said, "Yea well you're softer too." As soon as he said it he regretted it. Not only did she stop kissing him, but she frowned and turned onto her other side. He groaned inwardly and racked his brain for something to fix it.

"Yes well.." She mimicked with a bitter tone. "_Your_ son did that to me." His heart swelled at these words, your son. It was one of the best things she could've ever said to him. He drapped his arm over her waist and kissed her neck.

"Well, I'll make sure to thank him when I see him next." He whispered into her ear and he could feel the smirk grow on her face.

"Wouldn't that be a fun conversation?" She chuckled and rolled onto her back. "We cant tell him." She said a look of panic streaked across her face.

"I wasnt planning on it. I mean what 18 year old wants to hear about what his dad is planning to do to his mom?" He said kissing just above her breast. She sighed.

"What do you mean planning?" She asked, her voice a mixture of amusment, curiosity and nervousness. He looked at her bright eyes and her swollen lips. He smirked and kissed her.

"I'll show you." He said and she giggled as he moved on top of her.


	12. Busted

Jesse and Suze left the restaurant at 6:30 the next morning, walking hand in hand to Jesse's car. It had been a busy night and both of them were pleasantly tired. They were so tired that they drove back in silence, replaying the night's events in their heads. When they pulled into Jesse's driveway, Suze smiled.

"Thanks for coming to pick me up." She said with an underlying meaning.

"No problem." He winked and then remembered that he still didn't know why she had needed him to pick her up. "Why did you need me to come and get you?" She sighed and rolled her eyes, running her hair threw her wild, curly black hair.

"It's nothing." She said.

"Come on, tell me." He said grabbing a hold of her hand, and running his thumb over her skin.

"Michael asked me to marry him...again!"

"Oh, I see." He said trying to hide the amusement on his face.

"That's not even the worst part. He interrupted Ceecee's parents' speech to ask me." Jesse let out the laugh that he was holding back. "It's not funny! I was mortified." But he kept laughing.

"What's his deal anyways?" Jesse asked with a smug smile. "Like where did he think that asking you in a room full of strangers, at your best friends engagement party would make you say yes?" she shrugged.

"I guess he thought I wouldn't be able to say no, for fear of embarrassing him in front of so many people." Jesse laughed again.

"Even I know better than that, and he's proposed what, 3 times?"

"Something like that." She said with a sigh. She rested her head on the head rest and looked over at her dark house. "I guess I better go. I've got to open the restaurant at 10 today. Big wedding party." She smiled at him. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"See you later?" He asked and she bit her lip and nodded. "When?"

"I'm at the restaurant until 10. Is that too late?"

"For you? Never." He flashed his most charming smile and she shook her head and laughed.

"All right Prince Charming, you can cut the crap. You've already won." She said as she opened the car door and climbed out of the car.

"But that _crap _is my specialty." He said following her.

"Yes, I've noticed. It's kinda sad, really." She said, stopping at the back of the car and turning to face him. He touched her cheek gently and pulled her in for a kiss. The kiss was brief, but it was passionate and made Suze's face heat up. She pulled away and then looked around nervously.

"I don't think anyone's up this early?" He chuckled and looked around at the quiet houses.

"You can never be too sure..." She eyed the neighbour's house suspiciously and then smiled. "See you later."

"10." He said and she shook her head as she walked over to her front porch and fished out her keys from the bottom of her purse. She waved at Jesse who stood on his porch, and unlocked the door. She stepped into the dark hallway and kicked off her shoes. She threw the keys into the basket of keys that sat on a table beside the door. As she dropped her purse on the ground she became aware of heavy breathing hidden in the darkness. She froze on the spot and her mind went blank. Before she could even think of a plan of action the light flicked on and Max's smug face came into focus.

"Hello mother!" He said sitting in an arm chair that he had moved into the hallway, for dramatic effect. He was sitting with his fingers pressed together, wearing green chequered pyjama pants and a red t-shirt. She sighed and shook her head.

"Max! You scared the shit out of me!" She said sternly. "Don't do that!" She said walking past him, and started climbing the stairs.

"You're not going to explain yourself?" He said jumping out of the chair and following her up the stairs.

"To my 18 year old kid? I don't think so." She opened her bedroom door and flicked on the light. She left the door open and willed him to follow her. She grabbed a pair pyjamas from her closet and went into the on suite bathroom. As she turned on the bathroom light Max sighed and walked into the room and flopped down on the bed.

"Well, if you're _18 year old kid_ was up the whole night worried about where you were then maybe you should!" He crossed his arms with a triumphant expression. She could tell that he was really enjoying the role reversal. She closed the door and quickly slipped out of her skirt and blouse. She slipped on her black pyjama bottoms and white t-shirt, threw her hair into a pony tail and opened the door again. When she came back out, Max was lying on the pillows looking up at the ceiling, a deep crease in his forehead, which indicated that he was thinking. She smirked and went to her side of the bed and pulled back the covers.

"So..." He said once she was settled under the covers.

"Trust me...you don't want to know." She said with a yawn. The crease deepened and then he cringed. She chuckled and stared at the dark ceiling.

"I'm almost afraid to ask but...Jesse or Mike?" He asked cautiously.

"Jesse." She half-whispered. She turned her head to watch his reaction. She watched his face for any sign of how he would take this, but it was expressionless. Then he made a gagging noise and she broke out laughing. "Get Lost!" She said pushing him playfully.

"Payback's a bitch, huh?"

"Payback? For what?"

"For that time when you walked in on Gina and I." He smirked and she shook her head as a particular image popped into her mind. He laughed and then sighed, falling quiet. He turned onto his side and studied her face. The slowly rising sun made it easier to see his sparkling green eyes looking over her face, as if he was trying to memorize it. She had seen this gaze so many times before. A flashback popped into her head of when she held her tiny baby in her arms and he looked up at her, for the first time actually seeing her. Then she remembered the number of times that, over the years, he would end up in her bed, always in the spot that he lay now. She touched his cheek and thought about her baby, who in such a short time had grown up into the man who now lay beside her. He smiled at her and she couldn't stop the prickling feeling in the corner of her eyes.

"So...Are you like together now?" He said in a mocking "valley girl" voice. She chuckled and looked away, wiping the tear that had fallen down her cheek.

"Get Lost!" She said again.

"You know, I always prayed that my Mommy and Daddy would get back together again." He teased and she shook her head.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" She asked, closing her eyes, still smiling.

"At this hour? Not all of us are creatures of the night." She bit back another laugh and pretended that she had fallen asleep. He didn't buy it though. "So are you guys like _official_? Like have you updated your facebook statuses yet?" She let out a laugh and he chuckled too.

"Isn't it time for your run?" She smiled as she waited for a smart remark, but she was met with silence. Then she remembered about how just a few hours ago they had found poor Sheeba lying dead in the back yard. "Max, I'm so sorry. I-"

"I think I'm just going to skip my run for today." He said with a sad sigh.

"Oh honey. I'm sorry." She turned to him and pulled him into her arms. He lay there for a moment, allowing her this moment.

"Mom, I'm fine." He said gently pulling away, but she held on tight. "Mom..."

"I know you're a big boy now, but...you'll never be too big for a cuddle with your Mommy!" She smiled and stroked his hair as he sighed with defeat. "My poor little baby." She said with a smirk and he shook his head.

"Done yet?" He asked and she released him.

"Fine, go on. Forget about your poor old mother." She turned back onto her back and closed her eyes.

"Do...do you mind...if I just lie here a sec?" He whispered and she felt her heart break again.

"Sure honey." She said, watching him closely. After 10 minutes his eyes closed and his heavy breathing told her that he had fallen asleep.

She walked out onto the porch at 9:45. She figured that Max had left somewhere between 7:30 and 8, and she hadn't seen him since. Around 9 she heard the lawn mower going next door and knew he was over at Jesse's trying to forget all his troubles. She slipped on her sunglasses and unlocked her car. The sound of voices made her look over at Jesse's house.

Max was standing at the bottom of the porch steps, wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of dark blue swimming trunks and a blue baseball cap. He was drenched in sweat already and was leaning on the silent lawn mower handle looking up at Jesse with a stern expression.

Jesse had changed from what he had been wearing before. He was now wearing a green t-shirt with a logo on it and cream coloured khaki shorts. His hair was damp from a recent shower and he was trying very hard not to smile at Max. It was a freak of nature the way Max and Jesse were so similar. As she looked from father to son she could hardly spot a difference. The only differences were that Max had Suze's nose and his skin was lighter than Jesse's. Other than that they had the same sparkling green eyes and crooked smile. Suze used to think it was punishment for letting her emotions get the better of her, for falling in love with an idea that could never possibly be. But now she looked at Max's likeness to Jesse as a blessing. It showed her that this was the way it was supposed to be, Jesse was supposed to be in her life.

"I'm just warning you! You hurt her once and I'll tear you to-"

"Max!" She called across the driveway, separating their houses, startling both of them. "Are you being nice?"

"Just setting a few things straight." He said looking up at Jesse, who nodded and then winked at her.

"I've got to go to the restaurant today, so you'll be by yourself for the day." She said to Max, who nodded and then looked up at Jesse again. She smirked and shook her head. "Well come and kiss me goodbye." She said and laughed as both Max and Jesse walked towards her. Max shot Jesse a look that said, "careful old man". He kissed her cheek gently and stared Jesse down as he bent down to kiss Suze's cheek as well. He lingered a moment longer than necessary and Max cleared his throat.

"Alright, we all get the point." He snapped from behind Jesse and Jesse smirked down at her.

"I'll be home at 10." She said in a lower voice and his smile widened.

"See you then." He said in a tone matching her own and Goosebumps broke out over her skin.

"Bye Mother." Max said and Suze kissed him again.

"See you boys." She said climbing into the car. As she rolled down the windows she heard Max say, "And don't even think that I'm going to call you Dad."

"What about Daddy?" Jesse asked with a smug expression and waved as Suze drove away. She was completely unaware of the turmoil that would result from her new love affair.


	13. Deception

Jesse stood in front of the mirror and brushed his teeth. He looked at his bare chest in the mirror and saw what she saw. Over the years that he had been away he had changed a lot. The hairs on his chest were turning grey and there were tiny lines at the corner of his eyes and on his forehead. Plus his abdomen was remarkably softer than it was 18 years ago, especially since he moved back home. He sighed and rinsed his mouth before throwing on a navy blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans.

It was another hour before Suze got home and he hadn't seen Max since earlier that morning. He checked his phone and saw that there was one missed call from Suze's house. He studied it and noticed that it was from half an hour ago. He hit the redial button and the phone started ringing. It seemed to ring for forever before someone answered.

"H-Hello?" A shaky voice spoke into his ear.

"Max?"

"Yea?"  
"It's Jesse. Did you call me?"

"Oh Dad, hey." Jesse was taken aback. He looked down at the phone number on the screen to make sure he had called the right place. "Uh, I'm ok...Just uh..." the was noise in the background. "Just watching the game." Jesse frowned again. He had just watched the game with Max last night. There was no game on today.

"You sure everything's ok?" He asked again.

"Uh yea. Look I gotta go. See you later _Dad_." And then the phone went dead. Jesse stared at his phone with confusion. He had never had a weirder conversation in his life. Here was his kid calling him Dad when just hours earlier he had sworn that he would never call him that. And then there was the non-existent game that he was watching. Jesse could feel himself grow more and more anxious as he paced his room thinking about Max, and what he was up too. He looked over at Suze's house and not a single light was on, and there was no flicker of light from the living room where the TV would've been watched. That was the deciding factor for Jesse to go over and just check on Max. He grabbed his phone and put it in his pocket as he raced down the stairs. He lightly jogged across the driveway, Suze's lawn, and up the porch steps. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer. As he waited he thought of what Max could be up too. He tried to remember what he would be doing if he were 18 and then he remembered Gina. He didn't want to have a bad relationship with Max and kicked himself for being so stupid. He walked to the porch and down the porch steps. He looked back at the house and sighed. Maybe if he rang it just once more, just to be sure. Beside's he was too young to be a grandpa anyways.

He knocked on the door and rang the doorbell shortly after, listening carefully for any signs of movement. After a minute he grabbed the door handle and turned it. Expecting it to be locked he was surprised when the door opened easily. He stepped into the dark hallways and looked around. There was so shred of light anywhere. He listened for signs of life and became aware of heavy breathing somewhere in front of him.

"Max, buddy? Where are you?" He called out again. There was a quick movement to his left and the door slammed shut, which caused Jesse to jump. The breathing was suddenly louder, almost as if the person was standing in front of him. But he could see nothing, not even the tip of his nose; the room was completely black.

"Max?" He asked one more time, this time his voice cracked nervously. He heard the sound of fabric rubbing together on his left side, and then he heard a loud crack and felt instant pain in the left side of his head. He grabbed the side of his head and felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He stumbled into the table and knocked it over. He felt a pair of feet on either side of his legs, and strained to look up at the person. He let out a loud groan and felt his eyes droop shut; a numbness filled his body. He heard the person chuckle as Jesse drifted out of consciousness. Everything faded away; the sounds of heavy breathing and a chair scraping on the floor close by, the smell of blood and sweat, the feeling of the vibrating phone in his pocket.

Suze pulled into the driveway and frowned as she hung up her cell phone. She had called Jesse 3 times already, just to make sure they were still getting together that night, but he never answered. She had the same familiar sinking feeling that she had 19 years ago as she climbed down the ladder, when she found out she was pregnant, as she watched Jesse's car drive down the road off to live his own life. She looked over at his house and noticed that his bedroom light was still on, so maybe he was just getting ready. She smiled as she remembered watching him get dressed that moment and how normal it felt. She grabbed her purse and climbed out of the car, throwing the keys into her bag without even thinking. Her heels clunked along the wooden porch as she headed for the front door. She turned the door handle but found that it was locked.

She sighed as she dug threw her purse for her keys, feeling slightly agitated that Max had locked the door. His car was still in the driveway so she knew that he was home, she didn't see why he needed to lock the door. The lock clicked and she opened the door. The house was in complete darkness. She felt a wave of nervousness and sighed.

"That's stupid. To be afraid to go into your own house." She mumbled to herself as she walked into the house and closed the door. She kicked off her heels and dropped the keys in the basket. Only they didn't go into the basket, the clunked as the landed on the wooden floor. She frowned and felt around for the table but it wasn't there. She felt panic rising in her chest and felt along the wall for the light switch. When she found it she flicked the switch but nothing happened. Nervously she flicked it a couple more times.

"M-Max?" She called out slightly frustrated and slightly scared. When there was no response, she felt complete panic take over. "Max!" She shouted again, afraid to move. She became aware of the same heavy breathing, and noticed that it sounded familiar, not that she had heard it from the night before but like she had heard it on a regular basis. She sighed.

"Max, come on. This isn't funny anymore." She said. "I'm not even late."

"But you are late." A cold voice answered and she froze once more. Her mind going blank and a cold fear filled her body.

"What...Who's there?" She peeped, her lips frozen and her hands shaking. The lights flicked on and Suze's eyes took a moment to adjust to the bright lights. The first thing she saw were 2 chairs in the middle of the hallway, where Max had left his chair that morning, and they were tied together. On one chair, Suze spotted Max. His hands were tied behind his back and each leg was tied to a chair leg. Duct tape covered his lips and his eyes, the right one swollen and bruised, looked at her with pure terror. Tied onto the other chair was Jesse. Like Max, he too was bound with his hands behind him and each leg tied to the chair, but his head slumped onto his chest and there was a long trickle of blood pouring from his ear, down his chin and soaking the front of his shirt.

Then she noticed the person standing over them. Holding a gun to Max's head, stood Michael. His face was pale and his blue eyes were cold and crazy. He wore black leather gloves, a black sweater and jeans. His hair was wild and greasy and he looked like he hadn't showered in days. He wore a triumphant smile on his face as he stared back at her. She couldn't help the look of terror that she returned. He frowned.

"Don't look at me like that Susanna." He sighed.

"Why?" She felt tears in her eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's the only way." He said, speaking to her as if she were a small child.

"The only way for what?"

"For us to be together." He smiled at her, showing all of his gleaming white teeth. The same smile that she used to shudder at but tried to see past. She stared back at him completely confused and scared.

"What? I don't know what you mean!" She said, her voice shaking.

"Don't be stupid Susanna." He snapped. "You know exactly what I mean. These...people, are in the way of our complete happiness." He said pressing the barrel of the gun into the side of Max's head. Suze watched Max wince and a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Please! Don't do this." She begged and he smiled again.

"I got this idea from Max actually." He said patting Max's head with his free hand. "He should get some of the credit."

"Wh...What?" She asked confused.

"Well it was something he said to me once...That as long as he was around you would never leave." Max's forehead creased as he thought about this and then his eyes widened in fear. "Remember Max? I think you were 8."

"8? That's almost 10 years."

"That's how long I've been planning this for." He smiled with satisfaction.

"Wh-What?"

"Of course there were setbacks, like the dog and...him." He shot Jesse a look of hatred, before turning back to Suze. "But I knew they were just minor characters in our love story." She stared at him like he had just grown 4 heads and was speaking 10 different languages at once. "But it all worked out perfectly. You're brother's moved out of state and barely called you, you're mother was a drunk and Ceecee was busy with Adam and Gina. All I needed to concentrate on was Max here. I had to make sure that it was the right time, when no one would ask any questions." He flashed a vicious smile. "Now is that perfect moment, darling."

"He's...He's my son, Michael. Please." She begged again.

"Darling, he can be replaced by our children." He said so casually that she had to replay the sentence in her mind. She felt her blood boil with rage.

"So you think...you think that if you kill the people I _love_ that I will turn to you?" She shouted at him.

"Yes." He sighed. "It worked before."

"I-What?"

"Remember? When your mother died? You cried in my arms for hours."

"My...mother?" She stared at him. "She died of an overdose years ago."

"Oh Susanna." He sighed. "Do I really have to say it out loud for you. I killed her. It wasn't very difficult actually. All I had to do was slip some crushed up Advil into her vodka and plant some pills around her when she finally died." Suze was past the point of comprehension and stared back with a completely blank mind. She stared at her son and Jesse and knew that the only way to save them was to keep talking. She pushed away her emotions and started to formulate a plan.

"But why?" She asked. "Why kill her? She was barely here to begin with."

"Because she was a horrible mother. All those times she left you to take care of yourself and to watch over you're little brat for a brother. She didn't deserve you. None of them did." He said glaring at Jesse's unconscious form.

"She was my mother." Suze whispered.

"It's better this way." He sighed as he watched her shake with anger. She could taste the bile rising in her throat.

"Then...did you...kill David too?" She asked, David's bloody face popped into her brain and she felt her knees shake.

"He was, like the others, a small character that needed to be removed. He was a...antagonist if you will. He was only getting in the way, with all his traveling and girlfriend dramas." She shook her head and tried to stay focused. But the thought that Max had been right about Michael killing David made guilt fill her stomach. How could she have subjected her family to this monster? "It was supposed to make you run to me, David's death. But then Jesse turned up and ruined all of my plans. I had to think fast, change things around. I broke in last week, to get a better feel of the house, when the dog attacked me. So naturally she had to go too."

"You killed...You were the reason she was barking t 3 in the morning?" Suze felt, if possible, more shock. She remembered hearing Sheeba barking a ferocious bark that she had never heard before, and she couldn't be calmed until Max got up for his morning run.

"I wish I hadn't killed her. She was a good dog, but..." he shrugged and looked down at Max. Her eyes flicked down to Max's angry, red face and then to Jesse's calm face, his eye blinking slightly, his chest rising and falling gently. She blinked. Jesse was awake, only he was smart enough not to move, because Michael couldn't see that Jesse was awake from where he was standing. She saw Jesse's hands quietly working away at Max's ropes while Max worked on Jesse's. She quickly looked away and met Michael's gaze.

"You obviously don't know how I work!" She snapped and he looked surprised by her sudden outburst. "You think I'm going to run into your arms and marry you?"

"Yes." He blinked at her with confusion.

"I haven't said yes to any of your other proposals, why would I now?" She shot at him and he sighed and shook his head.

"Because, Susannah. There were people stopping you from doing what you truly wanted to do."

"Like who? Who was stopping me?"

"Well, Max, for instance, has hated me since he found out that I wasn't his precious Daddy." Michael bent down and looked at Max directly in the eyes. "Haven't you Maxy?" Max scowled and cursed him under the duct tape. Michael chuckled.

"Well, what about Jesse? Why are you doing this to him?" Suze shrieked, trying to distract Michael again.

"He wasn't part of the plan, and probably would've survived if he hadn't come over here tonight. But now he's involved and I can't let him leave."

"But he's done nothing wrong." She shouted and Michael's smile faded into a scowl and he turned towards her, the gun leaving Max's head.

"Oh no?" Michael said as he started walking towards her. "I saw you Susannah." She saw Jesse lift his head and the boys quickened their pace. So to help she started inching along the wall, making Michael moved farther and farther away from them. She backed into the living room and stumbled over a rug, hitting her face off of the grate of the fireplace. She blinked back the pain and spotted the fire poker resting close by. She groaned and stood up, and turned to face Michael.

"S-Saw me where?" She felt the cool metal meet her fingers and curled them around the handle.

"I saw you at the restaurant." He shouted and caused her to flinch. She swallowed nervously but raised her head and met his eye. He was standing very close to her now, she could feel his unsteady breath on her cheek and knew that his asthma was acting up.

"I...I don't know what you mean." She said slowly and he scowled at her.

"I followed you. After you completely embarrassed me by leaving me rejected and alone, I followed you. I watched you walk up the street to your restaurant. But I waited outside because I needed a moment to cool down. Then I see _him_ pull around the back and I knew."

"Knew what?" She shrieked.

"I knew what you were. What these people were making you become. A lying cheating whore." He spat and she stared back at him. Behind him she saw Jesse was almost completely untied. But both Jesse and Max were staring at Michael with furious faces. Then she saw a smile flick across Michael's face as he looked down at her lips. "You never kissed me like that before." He inched closer and she scowled.

"That's because I never loved you!" She said in a low voice and the smile froze on Michael's face. Then a pained look passed over his face, his broken heart clearly displayed all over his face, before it quickly changed to complete hatred.

"You stupid fucking bitch!" He raised the gun and pointed it at her face. For a split second her heart stopped beating.

"Hey Mikey!" She heard Jesse call from behind Michael. Without even thinking she watched Michael turn to Jesse and raise the gun. As if watching in slow motion she raised the fire poker and with all the strength she could muster she rammed the end threw Michael's back. As she felt his spine snap she heard the crack of the gun and watched Jesse fall to the ground clutching his bleeding chest.

She let go of the fire poker and Michael sank to the ground. Max was the first to react. He jumped off his seat and raced to Jesse's side. Seconds later Suze jumped over Michael's dead body and raced to Jesse. His face was pale and his eyes blinked quickly.

"Jesse!" She cried. She lifted his hands from his chest and blood squirted out at her.

"Oh Shit!" Max said.

"Call 911!" Suze shouted at him, as she unbuttoned her white blouse and pushed it on the wound. "Please don't die." She whispered to him, as Max talked to the dispatcher. Tears formed in her eyes, and started pouring down her cheeks.

"Suze..." he choked and she shook her head.

"No!" She shouted, pushing down on the wound with shaking hands. "No! I need you. You have to fight for me! Fight to stay alive Jesse! We've gone this long without each other! I can't go on any longer. Come on Jess!" She said trying to encourage him. The shirt in her hands was now a dark crimson colour and she knew. He smiled and coughed up a stream of blood, before his eyes drifted shut.


	14. Epilogue

"Your awake." Those were the first words he had heard when he opened his eyes. He blinked, trying to register where he was. There was a clean, white ceiling above him and pale yellow walls around him, the smell of bleach hung in the air. He looked around and a dark figure stood over him.

"Mr. De Silva?" A doctor's voice?

"Is he ok?" Suze's voice!

"Susannah?" he asked, his voice groggy.

"Over here honey!" He followed the sound of her voice and saw her looking down at him.

"What happened?" he asked, studying her tired, pale face. She smiled and rolled her eyes looking over a nurse.

"You won't believe how often that happens." The nurse said with a chuckle. He felt 2 pairs of hands help him off the ground and into a chair nearby. His head was light and he felt nauseous, but he smiled slightly at Suze lying in the bed beside him. He grabbed onto her hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

It had been 5 years since Michael had attacked them and that first year together had been crazy. After Jesse's 3 surgery's and near death experience, after being hounded by the police and the press they decided to take a month vacation to a tiny island off the coast of Mexico. There they decided to make sure that they stay together forever. So they had a small, private wedding on the beach with Max as their witness.

When they got back, they put Suze's house up on the market and moved into Jesse's house. When Max left for college they decided to sell Jesse's house and look for something a bit smaller. They found a small 3 bedroom bungalow out in the country. With Max rarely home, the couple spent their time catching up on the years they missed. Since being married Jesse had gained 10 pounds and more grey hair and Suze had stopped dying her hair black, let it go back to her natural colour. He looked at his wife, lying in the hospital bed, her hair stuck to her sweaty forehead, her blue eyes tired and weak, yet her face glowed. He had never felt so much love for a person in his entire life.

"So..."He asked.

"So..." She copied and then, if possible, her grin grew even bigger. "You have a daughter."

"Really?" He asked feeling his heart swell. He reached over and kissed her. The sound of 4 squeaky wheels interrupted them and Jesse looked in the direction of the sound. A young, smiling nurse wheeled in a small cradle. She placed the cradle in between Jesse's chair and Suze's bed and backed up. Inside was a tiny bundle wrapped in a soft pink blanket. A tiny nose stuck out of the top of the blanket and her head was covered by a knitted pink hat. The nurse listed the baby from the cradle and placed the baby in Jesse's arms and he felt tears in the corners of his eyes.

"She's very healthy, a little hungry, but other than that she's-"

"Perfect." Jesse said, looking at the tiny face in his arms. The baby squirmed and a tiny hand slid out of the blanket. Jesse touched her tiny hand and marvelled at the softness of her skin and the size of her tiny fist clenching the top of his finger. Before he could stop himself a tear streaked down his cheek. He studied her face and sighed. Her skin was a soft olive colour and there were tiny white bumps on her nose, which Suze told him would go away. Her cheeks were plump and her lips were small but added character to her face. She had long black eyelashes like he had, but he could see Suze's nose on her small baby face.

"That's what Max looked like." Suze said, resting her head back on the pillow.

"Only the boy version." Max said appearing in the room with a giant pink teddy bear. Suze's eyes filled with tears and she sighed. He looked taller and very tanned. He had a goatee and his hair was brushed neatly. He looked so much older since they had last seen him. After he graduated from college Jesse decided that it was time to retire and handed his business over to Max, who just newly married to Gina took the offer almost instantly. The two of them moved out there about 10 months ago and to Suze and Jesse it had seemed like a lifetime ago.

"You came!" She said.

"Of course! I had to see my new baby sister." He said proudly. "Although I do think it is weird that my sister and my son will be 2 months apart."

"If we keep up with this pace the baby will be born tomorrow." Gina said waddling into the room, carrying a large bouquet of pink roses. Her blonde hair was in a long French braid and she wore a light blue dress that made her tanned glow and her baby bump look remarkably smaller. She slumped onto the bed next to Suze and sighed as Suze wrapped and arm around her shoulder.

Jesse placed the baby into Max's arms and looked at his two children. He grabbed onto Suze's hand and she started crying again. Gina hugged her tighter and she too started to cry. Jesse looked to Max for answers and Max just shrugged.

"Hormones." He whispered and then Jesse saw him bend down kiss the baby's face. "You're not going to be like them are you baby sis? You're gonna be tough, into dirt and cars and bugs like me. Not all that girly stuff."

"Hey! I want a girly girl." Suze chuckled as she wiped away the tears. "I already had a boy. Now I want a girl, who I can dress up."

"Well, ok, but just don't be _too_ _girly_." Max said with a chuckle. "So what are we calling her?"

"Sophie." Jesse said proudly. "Sophie Marie De Silva."

They pulled into the driveway of their house and Suze let out a sigh of content. Both of them were nervous, though Jesse seemed more nervous than Suze. Suze slowly climbed out of the car while Jesse grabbed the car seat and they headed into the house. Once the door was open they were met by a jumping little Yorkie named Minney (named so because Jesse said she was as small as a mouse and therefore Suze got the idea of Minney Mouse, but they call her Minney for short.)

"We've got a couple of minutes before Max and Gina get here." Suze said.

"I think Ceecee and Adam are coming too." Jesse added patting the dog on the head.

"Well what do you want to do first?" She asked him.

"I...What did you do with Max?" He asked.

"I sat on the couch and cried." She said with a smile and Jesse shook his head.

"We could show her the nursery?" he suggested and Suze smiled.

"Ok."

They took the sleeping baby up the creaky wooden stairs, making jokes about her not being able to sneak down the stairs with these steps. They stopped at a door in the middle of the cream coloured hallway. On the door there was a little wooden plaque that said _Sophie's Room_ in white letters.

"Where did you get that?" Suze asked.

"Ceecee. She brought it by yesterday." Jesse smiled and Suze shook her head, pushing away the tears that kept springing back into her eyes. She opened the door and they stepped into the room.

"Look Sophie, this is your room." Jesse said to the baby and Suze chuckled. For 3 weeks Jesse and Suze had worked on this room, fixing it up, painting it and then decorating it. They tried their hardest to keep everything gender neutral and in doing so they painted the room a soft yellow colour and added things with soft greens. There, of course, were pink and blue in the room as well, such as in the chequered crib sheets and in the stuffed animals that lined the changing table, but for the most part it was a baby's nursery.

When you walked into the room the white changing table stood beside the door. In the corner beside that was a little white dresser covered in flowers and little stuffed animals. In the opposite corner beside the window was a white rocking chair with a little brown teddy bear in it. And beside that was the white crib that, when needed, would turn into a toddler bed and eventually a child's bed. There was a mobile with baby animals on it and a tiny night light that would turn on when the baby touched it and plastic fish would swim around and around. But the best part of the room was the small picture that hung above Sophie's crib. That picture was drawn by two 13 year old kids before they took a journey that no matter how far they drifted apart would end up bringing each other back together again. After all...if it's meant to be...


End file.
